For shisha lounges · from 1 January 2027
From 2027 you will have to put your head prices up several times. Printing once will not do it.
The federal government has put forward a bill amending the German Tobacco Duty Act (Tabaksteuergesetz). It provides for four increases on waterpipe tobacco — each on 1 January, in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030. The duty per kilogram is to rise from around €56 today to €188.46, and the first step alone would come close to a doubling. For a 200-gram tin, industry estimates put that as a move from €25 to €30 today towards €60. The process in the Bundestag is not finished, so the dates of the steps may still change.
What does not change: your buying price rises in steps, and your head price has to follow. Not once, but four times in four years — and in between, every time a supplier follows suit or one flavour becomes dearer than another. With printed menus, four rounds of price changes are four afternoons at the computer, four trips to the printer, four batches of old menus to throw out, four briefings for the team. And in between there is always the evening when the old menu is still on the table and the guest points at the price printed on it.
One round of price changes, two ways to do it
With a printed menu
- Set the new prices
- Proofread
- Order the print run
- Wait
- Collect the old menus
- Brief the team
- And again in a year
With STARIS
- Set the new prices
- Save
- Done — on every table, straight away
A price change takes under a minute with STARIS and applies straight away at every table, in every menu. You can see what the new menu looks like before it goes out, and you can drop a flavour that no longer pays its way with one tap instead of carrying it until the next print run.
The steps at a glance
| Step | From |
|---|---|
| First increase — close to a doubling | 1 January 2027 |
| Second increase | 1 January 2028 |
| Third increase | 1 January 2029 |
| Fourth increase — final level €188.46 per kilogram | 1 January 2030 |
We are not tax advisers and we will not tell you how to calculate or how much of it to pass on. That is your decision and your adviser's. What we do is make sure the decision you take is on every table thirty seconds later.
Sources: the federal government's bill amending the German Tobacco Duty Act (Tabaksteuergesetz); § 2 Tabaksteuergesetz as in force in 2026; figures on price developments from the Bundesverband Wasserpfeifentabak. As at August 2026. No warranty — the legislative process is still running.
There are still a few months to go before the first step
Anyone who has switched over by January makes the first round of price changes in a minute instead of over an afternoon. Tell us how many tables you have and you will get a quote.