Nowadays, the purpose of taxation is diverging from its usual/normal purpose of generating revenue to working for the wellbeing of the society. As a result, it is being used to regulate the social as well as the economic behavior of individuals. One instance of showing this is excise taxes. Excise taxes are one form of indirect taxes which are levied on the production and/or distribution of selected goods and/or services. The main rationale behind excise taxes goes beyond revenue generation as it also focuses on the regulatory as well as the social welfare objectives of taxes. These objectives include consumption reduction of hazardous products, correcting negative externalities, and enhancing equity. As a result, almost all design issues of excise taxes revolve around enhancing these objectives. Thus, a well-designed excise tax regime should give attention to the incorporation of these objectives. In this study, Ethiopia`s excise tax legislation along with the various issues of excise tax design are analyzed in order to identify the legal issues surrounding the excise tax regime. Hence, the study particularly has explored the legal issues that are related to the scope of application and the applicable rate under the Ethiopian excise tax regime. The research also has tried to provide insight into whether the Ethiopian excise tax regime is designed in a way that enhances the main purpose and objectives of excise tax. To accomplish this, the researcher has adopted qualitative legal research methods. Hence, different laws including the constitution and excise tax rules of Ethiopia as well as different literatures on excise taxes are consulted. The researcher also has interviewed senior experts at MOFEC, ERCA, HPR and Addis Ababa University. The main finding of the research is in spite of the fact that Ethiopia has enacted excise tax laws, there are many issues that surround the excise tax regime and these issues particularly relates to the scope of application and the applicable rate. Above all, the research finds that the Ethiopian excise tax regime is not designed in a way that enhances the general purposes of excise tax rather it focus on the consequential objective of generating revenue. Based on the above finding the research recommends that the country needs to revisits the scope of application and the applicable rates of excise tax in general. For this reason, a study should be conducted.