On October 7, 2026, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners published the Tobacco Products Tax rates that apply in Ireland from October 7, 2026, on the official excise duty rates page for Tobacco Products Tax and E-liquid Products Tax (page published October 6, 2026). Tobacco manufacturers and importers placing cigarettes, cigars, fine-cut and other smoking tobacco on the Irish market, tobacco wholesalers and distributors supplying that market, Irish tobacco retailers selling manufactured tobacco, and cross-border and distance-sellers placing tobacco products on the Irish market must apply those rates by October 7, 2026, or underpayment of excise duty exposes the operator to excise penalties, interest, seizure of goods and suspension of excise licences under the Finance Act 2005 (Part 2, Chapter 3, Tobacco Products Tax) regime enforced by Revenue.
The Revenue table states that these Tobacco Products Tax rates are effective from October 7, 2026. The same page leaves E-liquid Products Tax at EUR 500.00 per litre from November 1, 2025. That e-liquid rate is not part of the October 7, 2026 change.
What Tobacco Products Tax rates apply in Ireland from October 7, 2026?
From October 7, 2026, the Tobacco Products Tax table sets the rates below for manufactured tobacco released onto the Irish market. The charging law remains Finance Act 2005 (No. 5 of 2005), Part 2, Chapter 3 (sections 71 to 78) and Schedule 2, as amended by later Finance Acts. That chapter transposes Council Directive 2011/64/EU on the structure and rates of excise duty applied to manufactured tobacco. The rates page does not reprint the previous year's figures.
| Product | Rate from October 7, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Cigarettes | EUR 520.88 per thousand plus 8.67% of the retail price, or EUR 570.73 per thousand if that amount is higher |
| Cigars | EUR 580.447 per kilogram |
| Fine-cut tobacco for the rolling of cigarettes | EUR 558.422 per kilogram |
| Other smoking tobacco | EUR 402.688 per kilogram |
| E-liquid product (unchanged on this page) | EUR 500.00 per litre, effective from November 1, 2025 |
For cigarettes, pay the higher of EUR 520.88 per thousand plus 8.67 percent of the retail price, and EUR 570.73 per thousand. Cigars, fine-cut tobacco and other smoking tobacco are specific duties by weight.
Who must apply the new Irish tobacco excise rates?
Exposure follows placement on the Irish market, not the operator's domicile. Manufacturers and importers who release cigarettes, cigars, fine-cut tobacco or other smoking tobacco for consumption in Ireland account for Tobacco Products Tax at the October 7, 2026 rates on product cleared from that date. Wholesalers and distributors supplying the Irish trade, and Irish retailers (forecourt, convenience and specialist) selling manufactured tobacco, must re-price stock so the duty in the selling price matches those rates. Cross-border and distance-sellers who place tobacco products on the Irish market are in the same duty position.
E-liquid Products Tax on the same page stays at EUR 500.00 per litre from November 1, 2025. Labelling, EU-CEG notification and track and trace under the Tobacco Products Directive are not amended by this rates page. Those controls sit with the HSE Environmental Health Service and the Department of Health. Revenue remains the excise and fiscal-mark authority.
What must operators change by October 7, 2026?
By October 7, 2026 the duty calculation, the price file and the return have to use the new figures:
- Load the four Tobacco Products Tax rates into the excise and pricing systems used for Irish releases from October 7, 2026.
- Recalculate cigarette duty as the higher of EUR 520.88 per thousand plus 8.67 percent of the retail price, and EUR 570.73 per thousand, for each Irish price point.
- Re-price warehouse, wholesale and retail stock of manufactured tobacco sold in Ireland from October 7, 2026.
- Keep E-liquid Products Tax at EUR 500.00 per litre unless a later Revenue notice moves that rate.
- Pay the Tobacco Products Tax return for clearances from October 7, 2026 on the new specific and ad valorem amounts.
Continuous, per-jurisdiction monitoring is how a rates page of this kind is caught on the day Revenue publishes it.
What happens if Irish tobacco duty is underpaid?
Underpayment exposes the operator to excise penalties, interest, seizure of goods and suspension of excise licences under Finance Act 2005, Part 2, Chapter 3, enforced by Revenue. The rates page published on October 6, 2026 does not set a euro penalty scale. The named consequence is recovery of the shortfall with penalties and interest, plus seizure and licence action, not a fixed fine printed on that page.
The amount to pay is the figure on the Revenue Tobacco Products Tax and E-liquid Products Tax rates page. Council Directive 2011/64/EU sets the EU structure and minimum-rate design. Ireland applies it through Finance Act 2005, Part 2, Chapter 3. Until Revenue replaces this table, October 7, 2026 is the effective date of these four tobacco rates.
Next: confirm stock released for Irish consumption on or after October 7, 2026, rerun the cigarette minimum at EUR 570.73 per thousand, update price files, and pay the return on the new rates. Keep the e-liquid litre rate out of that recalculation. Obsidian tracks the Revenue rates page so the next table is visible when it is published.
