Does the New UAE Vape Tax (AED 1/ml) Affect IQOS TEREA Prices in Dubai?

Short version: no, your TEREA prices are not part of this update. The new rule targets vape juice, the liquid used in refillable and pod-style e-cigarettes. TEREA sticks and IQOS ILUMA devices sit in a separate tax category, and that category has not changed.

We’ll walk through what the rule actually says, why heated tobacco is treated differently, and what it means for your next order on tereaiqos.ae.

What Changed in the UAE’s Vape Tax From September 1, 2026?

The rule comes from Cabinet Decision No. 137 of 2026, which replaces Cabinet Decision No. 55 of 2019. It does not raise the tax rate itself. The 100% excise rate on tobacco and electronic smoking products stays exactly where it was.

What it changes is the base the tax is calculated on. A 10ml bottle now carries a minimum excise value of AED 10, a 30ml bottle AED 30, and so on, even if the retail price on paper looked lower before.

Does This New Tax Apply to IQOS TEREA Sticks?

This is the part that causes most of the confusion. “Vape tax” headlines get shared widely, and people assume every nicotine product in the UAE just got more expensive. That’s not accurate for heat-not-burn products.

If you want the full breakdown of how TEREA differs from a liquid vape or a HEETS stick, we’ve covered it in more depth in IQOS HEETS vs TEREA: What’s the Difference? and in Is TEREA IQOS a Cigarette?

How Are TEREA and IQOS ILUMA Taxed Instead?

TEREA sticks are classified as a tobacco product, the same broad group as cigarettes and shisha tobacco. That group is taxed at a flat 100% excise rate, and this September’s update left that rate exactly as it was.

The Ministry of Finance was direct about this in its own statement: existing minimum excise prices for cigarettes, waterpipe tobacco, and ready-to-use tobacco products remain unchanged. IQOS ILUMA devices, being hardware rather than a consumable liquid or tobacco product, sit outside the excise framework altogether.

So the pricing structure you already know for TEREA at our TEREA flavors range and for devices in our IQOS ILUMA collection was built around the 100% tobacco rate long before this new rule existed.

Why Did the UAE Introduce This Vape Liquid Tax?

The Ministry framed the change around consistency, not revenue for its own sake. Some sellers had been pricing e-liquid bottles low on paper to shrink the tax owed, even when the actual retail price stayed high.

A minimum price per millilitre closes that gap. It also lines up with what health authorities across other markets, including the UK and Canada, have been doing with their own vape duties this year.

If a bottle’s real calculated excise price is already above the floor, that higher figure still applies. The floor only catches bottles priced artificially low.

What This Means for TEREA Prices at tereaiqos.ae

Nothing changes on our end because of this specific rule. TEREA and IQOS ILUMA pricing was never calculated using a per-millilitre liquid basis, so there’s no floor for us to suddenly meet.

You can keep browsing and ordering exactly as before, whether that’s a specific origin like our TEREA Japan range or a device from our ILUMA i Series lineup. Any future price movement on our side would come from supply costs or brand updates, not from this tax change.

We’d still recommend checking your receipt on any purchase, at any retailer, simply as good practice whenever a new excise rule rolls out in the UAE.

Will Vape Juice Prices Rise in Dubai Shops?

For some products, yes. Bottles that were previously priced under the new AED 1/ml floor are likely to see a price increase at the till, since the retailer now owes tax on the higher minimum base regardless of the shelf price.

Retailers have flagged that this could push some buyers toward unregulated sellers offering unmarked liquids. That’s a separate risk worth knowing about if you or someone you know uses refillable vapes, since unregulated liquids skip UAE safety testing entirely.

Where to Buy Genuine TEREA and IQOS ILUMA in the UAE

Buying from an unregulated seller carries the same risk with heated tobacco as it does with vape liquid: no guarantee of what’s actually inside the stick, and no accountability if something’s wrong with the device.

We stock verified TEREA sticks and IQOS ILUMA devices with UAE-compliant sourcing, browsable from our full shop or our dedicated TEREA Dubai page.

Frequently Asked Questions

This article explains a public tax policy change for general information and reflects the rule as announced for September 2026. For the exact figure applied to a specific order, always check your receipt at the time of purchase.