Increasing tobacco tax
Act amending the annex to the Tobacco Excise Duty Act
Taxation of traditional tobacco products, such as cigarettes and rolling tobacco, will be increased gradually from November 2024 to July 2027. This will raise tobacco product prices in shops and increase state tax revenue.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 19 Sep 2024
- Latest event
- 18 Oct 2024
- Votes
- 2
- Speeches
- 8
- Confirmed
- 25 Oct 2024
- Statute
- 565/2024
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
Tobacco duty on cigarettes, rolling tobacco, pipe and cigarette tobacco, as well as cigars and cigarillos, will be increased by an average of 27.1 per cent. The increases will be implemented in six stages at six-month intervals between 1 November 2024 and 1 July 2027 by raising the specific and minimum excise duties, while the taxes on e-cigarette liquids and nicotine pouches will be kept unchanged.
What it means
The change will raise consumer prices: prices of cigarettes and rolling tobacco are estimated to rise by an average of 24.5 per cent (the average price of a packet of cigarettes will rise by more than 2.90 euros to nearly 13.20 euros), pipe tobacco by 22.7 per cent and cigars by 18.3 per cent. The increases are estimated to generate approximately 150 million euros in additional annual tax revenue for the state and reduce cigarette consumption by nearly 8 per cent. The price increases will particularly affect smokers and lower income brackets, as well as tobacco industry operators and retail.
How Parliament voted
The act ultimately passed without a vote: no MP proposed rejecting it in the final reading. The votes concerned details of the act.
Lain liite , mietintö / Joona Räsänen
Yes won by 94–72.
Government yes, opposition no. 33 MPs were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. Point at a dot to see the MP. Seats follow the current seating plan (updated 18 Sep 2026). 5 MPs who voted are not in the current seating plan.
A passed act does not enter into force immediately: the President of the Republic confirms it, and it enters into force on the date set in the act. This act was confirmed on 25 Oct 2024.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
8 speeches · 7 speakers · 1 debate
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed tightening the taxation of traditional tobacco products to increase state revenue and reduce health harms. All groups supported tax increases, but the opposition considered the government proposal insufficient. There was disagreement over whether tax increases should be larger and extended immediately to nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes as well.
- Should tax increases also be extended immediately to e-cigarette liquids and nicotine pouches?
- Should tobacco tax be increased even more than proposed and on a faster schedule?
- National Coalition PartyIn favour
The National Coalition Party (NCP) supports raising tobacco tax gradually to increase tax revenue and reduce harms. The group considers that excessively large one-off tax increases could increase smuggling and the shadow economy, which is why the taxation of new products is being monitored for the time being.
”Valtiovarainvaliokunnan päätösehdotus on, että eduskunta hyväksyy hallituksen esityksen muuttamattomana.”
— Ville Valkonen - Finns PartyIn favour
The Finns Party (Finns) supports the proposal, as gradual increases will bring significant revenue to the state and prevent passenger imports and smuggling. According to the group, reviewing the taxation of nicotine pouches and e-cigarettes is justified only once reliable information on their market impacts is available.
”Täällä tosiaan on käsittelyssä hallituksen esitys tupakkaveron korottamiseksi, ja esitys on erittäin kannatettava.”
— Sami Savio - Social DemocratsIn favour with reservations
The Social Democrats (SDP) support increasing tobacco duty, but believe that increases should have been made at the same time to e-cigarette liquids and nicotine pouches. This would generate additional revenue for the state and particularly prevent the use of nicotine products among young people.
”Senpä takia olisi ollut linjakasta tehdä nämä korotukset kerralla.”
— Joona Räsänen - Centre PartyIn favour with reservations
The Centre Party (Cen) supports raising tobacco duty as an excise tax on harmful products, but calls for a tighter timetable than the Government's and increases that are 30 million euros larger. According to the group, taxing harmful products more heavily could cover the central government deficit better than raising general taxes.
”Keskusta näkee, että tämä aikataulu, millä ollaan yhdessä tämän vaalikauden aikana kiristämässä 150 miljoonaa, voisi olla hieman nopeampi ja lopputulos vielä hieman kiristävämpi.”
— Markus Lohi
This digest was generated by AI from 8 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 19 Sep 2024Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Valtiovarainministeriö
- 24 Sep 2024Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 4 Oct 2024Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · valtiovarainvaliokunta
- 11 Oct 2024Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 16 Oct 2024Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 17 Oct 2024Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki tupakkaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 565/2024 · 25 Oct 2024
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki tupakkaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan tupakkaverosta annetun lain (1470/1994) liite, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 1131/2023, seuraavasti:
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Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 25 Aug 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.