The increase in tobacco tax from 2022, totaling around 500 million Euros, will not be used to prevent addiction. Instead, Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) had the additional income included in the planning of the overall federal budget. The parliamentarian Till Mansmann (FDP) criticized: “Scholz cashes in at the expense of addicts.” E-cigarettes, in particular, are to be taxed like conventional cigarettes in the future. So far, they have been taxed less heavily.