. Airspops disposable vapes, made by a UK company called Airscream, are very popular in South Africa. Retail chain Pick n Pay sells a 3ml AirsPops for R95 .
The fact that the retail price for these products has not changed suggests that the new excise tax is either absorbed by the industry or there is old stock on the market. AirsPops are also sold at retail chain Spar, by informal traders, and online . There is growing competition in both the closed disposables vapes market and the open systems market. Open systems allow the user to refill the liquid in a vaping device. E-liquids are sold in a variety of nicotine strengths and volumes . Nicotine-free e-liquids are not supposed to contain nicotine, although trace quantities are sometimes present. The increased competition in the vaping market has put downward pressure on e-liquid prices.
In recent years the excise tax increases have generally exceeded the retail price increases, with the result that the average excise tax incidence has increased and is currently about 45% for popular-price cigarettes. If VAT is included, the total tax incidence on popular-priced cigarettes is around 58%.
While equivalence with cigarette taxation is a controversial topic, the current tax on e-cigarettes yields tax burdens consistently below the tobacco tax burdens . The new tax will affect disposables the least, and e-liquids sold in large containers the most.