Tax on Liquids for Electronic Cigarettes

© Miguel Torres

On April 1, 2025, Law 7/2024 of December 20, which established a Tax on Liquids for Electronic Cigarettes and Other Tobacco-Related Products, will come into force.

Subjected products

Liquids for electronic cigarettes are subject to the tax , whether they contain nicotine or not and whether they are for disposable devices or not . This means that liquids based on cannabidiol ( CBD ) will be subject to the tax.

Also subject to the ban are nicotine pouches and other nicotine products other than traditional tobacco products, such as chewing gum, inhalers, lozenges or skin patches , which are not considered medicines.

Taxable base

The taxable base of the Tax will be constituted by the volume , expressed in milliliters , for liquids for electronic cigarettes and by the total weight of the product, expressed in grams , for nicotine bags and for other nicotine products.

Types of tax

There are four applicable tax rates differentiated by headings depending on the product in question:

Heading 1 : Liquid for electronic cigarettes that does not contain nicotine or contains 15 milligrams of nicotine or less, per millilitre of product, 0.15 euros per millilitre.

• Section 2 : Liquid for electronic cigarettes containing more than 15 milligrams of nicotine per millilitre of product, 0.20 euros per millilitre.
• Heading 3 : Nicotine bags, 0.10 euros per gram.
• Heading 4 : Other nicotine products, 0.10 euros per gram.

Obligation to declare

In general, all persons or companies that manufacture, store and wholesale distribute in the Peninsula or the Balearic Islands, or import or acquire in countries of the European Union to later sell these products in the Peninsula or the Balearic Islands, are required to declare.

Also, on an exceptional basis, declaring once in July 2025 will be required for all persons or companies that have these products for commercial purposes (both wholesalers and retailers – tobacconists, service stations, vaping shops, convenience stores, parapharmacies for this type of products that are not considered medicines, supermarkets, etc. – that sell these products) as of April 1, 2025.

If an individual stores these products as of April 1, 2025, he or she must declare whether the possession of the products subject to the Tax is for commercial purposes. It is understood that the possession is for commercial purposes , unless proven otherwise, when the quantities exceed the following limits:

• E-cigarette liquids: 40 milliliters.
• Nicotine bags: 400 units.
• Other nicotine products: 500 grams .

Stock declaration

Wholesalers , retailers or those who store these products for commercial purposes as of April 1, 2025 , must submit a declaration electronically (which will be available on the AEAT website) with the stock for commercial purposes that they have in their stores, establishments, etc. stored as of April 1, 2025 (regardless of the date on which they acquired them, simply that they have them in their warehouse as of April 1)

Liquids added to vapers (electronic cigarettes) must be declared even if the liquid does not contain nicotine. The vaper (device itself) does not have to be declared unless it contains liquid. The total millilitres of product must be declared, not by units , and distinguishing whether the volume of nicotine exceeds or does not exceed 15 millilitres per milligram of product.

For nicotine pouches , which usually come in cans, the quantity must be declared in grams (the weight of the product contained in each can, not units of cans). For other nicotine products (such as chewing gum) the quantity must also be expressed in grams 

This stock declaration model must be submitted through the Tax Agency’s website, between April 1 and 30, 2025 .

Failure to comply with this obligation to submit this declaration or submitting it incompletely or with false data may result in a tax penalty of 500 euros .

Self-assessment of the tax

All wholesalers or retailers who have stocks of these products as of April 1, 2025, whether or not they have submitted the electronic stock certificate and who have not included these products in the so-called suspensive regime (that is, they have not transferred them to a factory or tax warehouse), will be required to submit form 573 , corresponding to the month of April, for self-assessment of the Tax and pay the fees corresponding to these products between July 1 and 20, 2025 .

For purchasers in Spain (those who buy these products in other countries of the European Union for their subsequent commercialization in Spain), factories and tax warehouses , in addition to the declaration and payment of the Tax, they must request an Economic Activity Code (CAE) and pay the tax from the 1st to the 20th of the month following each monthly period, presenting the self-assessment form 573.

Shippers (distance sellers located in other EU countries) who sell to private consumers in Spain or the technological platforms that mediate in this type of sales (websites) will be considered taxpayers of the Tax. In these cases, it is not the recipient or purchaser in Spain who must declare and pay the Tax.

The Tax is not required and, therefore, the self-assessment form 573 does not need to be submitted if the merchandise is under the so-called suspensive regime , that is, in the case of products that circulate between factories or tax warehouses, or between the Spanish Customs where the import has taken place from outside the European Union to one of these factories or tax warehouses.

It will also not be necessary to submit self-assessment form 573 in those settlement periods in which there is no amount to be paid.

Circulation of products

The circulation and possession of these products with origin and destination within the internal territorial area (i.e. the Peninsula and the Balearic Islands with the Tax already accrued) can be justified with a commercial document (invoice, delivery note, etc.). Whoever transports them must have a commercial document that justifies this legal possession and circulation.

In the suspension regime, it will be necessary for the circulation to be done with the so-called electronic administrative document (e-AD or ARC) which is managed through the “EMCS” control system by the AEAT authorities.

If a product subject to this tax has been received from another EU country and its immediate destination is a factory or tax warehouse (to include it in the suspension regime), it may circulate to these establishments with a commercial document (invoice, delivery note, etc.).

 Regime for travellers from the EU or shipments between individuals

The Products subject to tax carried personally by travellers over 17 years of age entering Spain, whether or not they come from other EU countries, will not pay tax when they do not exceed:

• 20 milliliters of e-cigarette liquids, or
• 200 units if it is nicotine bags, or
• 200 grams if it is other nicotine products .

The Taxable products sent by an individual from another EU Member State or outside the EU to another individual in Spain, without any payment of any kind, will not pay tax when they do not exceed:

• 10 milliliters of e-cigarette liquids, or
• 30 units if it is nicotine bags, or
• 150 grams if it is other nicotine products.