Estonia tobacco excise rises again on 1 January 2027

From 1 January 2027, anyone releasing tobacco products for consumption in Estonia must apply a new, higher column of excise rates.Emta The Maksu- ja Tolliamet table now carries three columns — rates applying from 1 July 2025, from 1 January 2026 and from 1 January 2027 — after the obsolete 1 January 2025 column was dropped.

For cigarettes, the 2027 rate is 130.50 euros per 1,000 pieces plus 30% of the maximum retail priceEmta, with a floor of 220.40 euros per 1,000 piecesEmta. That replaces the 2026 figure of 123.50 euros plus 30%, floored at 209.95 euros. The proportional element and the maximum-retail-price base are unchanged; only the specific and minimum amounts rise.

For cigars and cigarillos, the specific part stays at 151 euros per 1,000 pieces plus 10% of the maximum retail price, while the minimum payable rises to 282.00 euros per 1,000 piecesEmta, up from 268.40 euros in 2026. Smoking tobacco and the solid tobacco substitute move to 145.00 euros per kilogramEmta, up from 138.00 euros. E-liquid moves to 0.26 euros per millilitreEmta, up from 0.25 euros, and other alternative tobacco products move to 0.26 euros per gramEmta, up from 0.25 euros.

The liability logic is unchanged. Excise duty in Estonia covers tobacco products manufactured in Estonia, brought in from another Member State, and imported from outside the European Union. The payment obligation arises for the person who releases the products for consumption — bringing them into Estonia without a temporary exemption or moving them out of such an exemption into an ordinary warehouse or shop. For domestically produced goods the duty is paid by the excise warehousekeeper; for goods brought from another Member State by the warehousekeeper, the registered consignee or the recipient of the tobacco products; and for imported goods by the importer. A temporary exemption suspends the liability during manufacture, storage or movement, and only authorised persons — warehousekeepers and registered consignees, including occasional registered consignees — may move goods under it.

The rate change interacts with the tax-stamp sell-through rule that practitioners already know. Where a new stamp design is introduced together with a new, higher rate, goods released for consumption before the new rate takes effect and bearing the old stamps may be sold for three more calendar months, after which they may be stored only in an excise warehouse. The existing guidance walks through the 2026 changeover on this basis: products bearing the stamps valid until 31 December 2025 could be sold until 31 March 2026, with an exception for cigars and cigarillos whose excise actually paid does not rise as a result of the higher minimum. Retailers and wholesalers must withdraw unsold packs from handling by the deadline and keep the named products only in an excise warehouse afterwards. Should a new stamp design take effect alongside the 2027 rates, the same three-month rule quoted in the guidance (ATKEAS § 28 lg 4¹) would govern the 2027 changeover in the same way.

Unstamped cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos continue to be assessed by reference to the most widespread price at the time the liability arises; for 2026 the guidance gives 5.92 euros for cigarettes, 6.34 euros for one cigar and 0.62 euros for one cigarillo.

Legal basis: the rates sit under the excise framework of the Alkoholi-, tubaka-, kütuse- ja elektriaktsiisi seadus (ATKEAS); the sell-through rule follows ATKEAS § 28 lg 4¹ as described in the guidance.