KUALA LUMPUR (March 31): The government will impose an excise tax of 40 sen per millilitre on electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) liquid or gel containing nicotine from April 1, according to the Federal Government Gazette Excise Duties (Amendment) Order 2023.  

The order by the Finance Ministry posted on Friday (March 31), is in exercise of the powers conferred by the Excise Act 1976 (Act 1976).  

During the Budget 2023 last month, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had announced the government's plan to impose an excise tax on liquid or gel products containing nicotine.

With nicotine-containing vape liquids of over RM2 billion in estimated market value being sold illegally, Anwar said it would be wise to regulate and tax them to discourage vaping. Half of the excise tax revenue will be allocated to the Health Ministry to improve the quality of health services.

Notwithstanding this, the Malaysian Council for Tobacco Control has also called on the government to include the excise tax on e-cigarettes and vaping products that do not contain nicotine in the revised Budget 2023 proposals.  

The then government under Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's administration had also proposed to extend tax collection to gel or liquid products containing nicotine for vapes and e-cigarettes in the Budget 2022 tabling, by imposing a tax of RM1.20 per mililitre.  

However, the plan was postponed because nicotine vape liquid was classified as a Class C poison under the 1952 Poison Act.