Turkmenistan has increased excise rates on imports of tobacco products to 181.25 percent of the customs value effective Jan. 2025, reports Turkmenportal. The minimum tax rate will be $7.81 per pack.
Meanwhile, the government increase the excise tax rate on other tobacco and industrial tobacco substitutes from $30.5 per kg to $38.13 per kg.
In February 2022, Turkmenistan adopted a national program for 2022-2025 aimed at achieving “tobacco-free” status.
A Dutch lawmaker wants to reverse a recent increase in tobacco excise duties to boost government revenue, reports The NL Times.
On April 1, the Netherlands increased the excise duty per pack of 20 cigarettes from €5.85 to €7.81. A pack now costs more than €11. However, revenues from the measure have fallen short of expectations. Recent figures from the Ministry of Finance reveal that the tax increase will raise €550 million less than anticipated.
Research by the RIVM showed that around 10 percent of smokers quit because of the more expensive cigarettes. The researchers also noted that the share of cigarettes from abroad increased from 24-28 percent to 35-39 percent.
Concerned about the Netherland’s lower tax take, BBB parliamentarian Henk Vermeer urged the government to undo the measure, arguing that it would be “stealing from the treasury” if it failed to do so. According to the BBB, people crossing the border to buy their cigarettes likely do their other shopping there too. “That also means less revenue from VAT and corporate tax,” Vermeer said.
Antismoking groups vehemently oppose Vermeer’s proposal, arguing that the purpose of the excise increase was not to raise money, but to discourage people from smoking.
“Making cigarettes more expensive is very important and works,” KWF Kankerbestrijding Director Caral van Gils was quoted as saying. “There is more than enough scientific evidence for that.”
Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) could reduce tobacco consumption and its societal cost by reforming the design and administration of tobacco taxes, according to a new OECD report.
The authors of the study argue that the social and economic costs of tobacco use across LAC countries outweigh the revenue from tobacco taxes. Smoking-attributable medical costs can reach up to an average of 1.5 percent of GDP per year.
“Taxes play a vital role in limiting the social and economic costs of smoking,” said OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann in a statement. “Governments should be sure to maintain, and where necessary strengthen, the stringency of tobacco taxation.”
The most common policy gaps, according to the report, are lack of mechanisms to ensure a minimum amount of tobacco excise tax is paid and that taxes are not applied consistently across different tobacco products, including new tobacco and nicotine products. Tax rates on cigarettes remain below the World Health Organization’s recommendation of at least 75 percent of the retail price.
The OECD report recommends that LAC countries increase tobacco excise tax rates, seek to account for the strategic responses of the tobacco industry when designing tobacco tax policy, strengthen tobacco tax administration, introduce accompanying measures to tackle illicit tobacco trade, ensure that tobacco excise and income tax policies are coherent and strengthen domestic and regional tobacco tax cooperation.
Ireland’s new tax on e-cigarettes is a setback in the fight against tobacco, condemning thousands of smokers to unnecessary premature death, according to international health experts.
This week, the Irish government announced a levy of €0.50 per ml of e-liquid as part of its annual budget, adding €1.23 to the cost of a typical vape. This tax is far above the European average of €0.10 to €0.30.
“Sweden is on the brink of achieving smoke-free status as a result of its progressive approach to safer alternatives like vaping. This contrasts sharply with Ireland’s approach, where smoking rates remain four times higher,” said Delon Human, leader of Smoke Free Sweden, in a statement.
“Sweden’s successful policies, including lower taxes on safer nicotine alternatives, have helped reduce smoking and smoking-related deaths. In stark contrast, Ireland’s new levy will discourage smokers from switching to less harmful options, potentially keeping them addicted to cigarettes and condemning them to unnecessary premature death.”
According to a recent Irish public consultation, only 10 percent of respondents supported increasing taxes on vaping above the EU average, while 39 percent warned that higher prices would push consumers to source products abroad.
Through the promotion of safer alternatives like snus, nicotine pouches and vapes, Sweden has reduced its smoking rates by 55 percent over the past decade, resulting in a staggering 44 percent fewer tobacco-related deaths compared to the rest of the European Union.
“By raising taxes on safer alternatives, Ireland jeopardizes its hopes of reducing smoking rates,” Humans said. “If Ireland truly wants to cut smoking and save lives, it should follow Sweden’s lead in promoting harm reduction, not penalize smokers for trying to quit.”
Indonesia’s decision to keep cigarette excise tax levels at 2024 levels next year has drawn fierce criticism from health advocates, reports The Jakarta Post.
Hasbullah Thabrany, head of the National Committee on Tobacco Control, said the failure to increase taxes represents a major step backward in the effort to reduce tobacco consumption in the country.
He noted that a previous 10 percent increase in cigarette tax had failed to decrease smoking rates among minors and low-income families.
“Yet, despite that situation, the government decided not to raise the excise for next year,” Hasbullah said in a discussion on Thursday, 3 Oct 2024.
On Jan. 1, Indonesia increased the tax on electronic cigarettes by 10 percent. In late 2022, the government announced an increase in taxes on machine-made clove cigarettes and white cigarettes of between 11 and 12 percent, as well as a 5 percent rise for hand-rolled cigarettes.
Indonesia is in the Top-10 of countries with the highest smoking rates, according to the World Health Organization.
Philip Morris International would be the biggest beneficiary of New Zealand’s tax cuts for heated-tobacco products (HTPs), critics told Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, according to RNZ.
In July, Costello announced a 50 percent cut to HTP excise taxes, arguing that doing so would encourage cigarette smokers to migrate to less unhealthy nicotine products.
The government of New Zealand will set aside NZD216 million ($127.39 million) to pay for the tax reductions.
According to critics, the only commercial beneficiary of the tobacco tax cuts is PMI, which is the sole supplier of HTPs in New Zealand.
In briefings to Costello, treasury officials questioned whether PMI would pass on the excise cut to consumers given its dominance in the market, according to documents obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act.
“It may be that the reduction in excise taxes is not passed through to consumers in price reductions but rather is retained by the sole importer,” the officials warned.
In response to questions about her motivations, Costello stated that she had no connections to the tobacco business. “It’s completely wrong to suggest that the tobacco industry has anything to do with these policies, which are aimed at helping people quit smoking,” she was quoted as saying.
Costello has repeatedly said the excise tax cut for HTPs is designed to lower smoking rates by offering alternatives for people struggling to quit. She has claimed that “HTPs have a similar risk profile to vapes.”
Treasury officials reportedly cited evidence that HTPs are more harmful than vaping.
Raising taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks can prevent millions of deaths and generate trillions in revenue for governments worldwide, especially in low-income and middle-income countries, according to a new report released by the Task Force on Fiscal Policy for Health.
Among other conclusions, the report finds that raising taxes enough to increase prices by 50 percent on these products could prevent 50 million premature deaths over the next 50 years and raise $3.7 trillion over the next five years, including $2.1 trillion in low-income and middle-income countries, where the health burden is greatest.
According to the authors, cigarettes have become more affordable to nearly 90 percent of the world’s smokers in the past five years due to stalled progress in increasing tobacco taxes.
Co-chaired by philanthropist Mike Bloomberg, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and economist Larry Summers, the task force convened in 2018 to address noncommunicable diseases and comprises experts in fiscal policy, development and health.
Public health activists are urging Luxembourg raise tobacco prices, reports the Luxembourg Times.
Tobacco in Luxembourg is considerably cheaper than it is in all surrounding countries, which spurs cross-border sales and supplies a steady stream of revenue to the principality.
As much as 5 percent of Luxembourg’s treasury income is generated from tobacco sales. However, much of this is purchased by people who live in France, Belgium and Germany. A pack of cigarettes is roughly twice as expensive in France as in Luxembourg.
Finance minister Gilles Roth noted in March that the treasury actively relies on that money, making price increases unlikely.
Health advocates are also urging Luxembourg to tighten laws on retailer tobacco displays.
The Fondation Cancer group believes the visibility of tobacco and nicotine products not only encourages smokers to increase their consumption but also entices young people to start smoking.
“Tobacco products and related displays are often strategically placed at the entrances of supermarkets, near sweets and magazines or directly at checkout counters,” said Fondation’s public health liaison, Lex Schaul.
“These high-visibility areas make the products more noticeable to young people, normalizing their consumption and downplaying the associated dangers,” he said.
Sri Lanka managed to increase tobacco tax collections while reducing tobacco consumption over the past decade, reports Xinhua.
According to State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya, tobacco consumption in Sri Lanka declined by 41.9 percent between 2015 and 2023. During the same period, the state’s revenue increased by 36 percent.
In 2015, Sri Lankans smoked 3.96 billion cigarettes, whereas by 2023, this figure had dropped to 2.3 billion cigarettes, Siyambalapitiya said.
Despite this reduction, the state’s revenue from cigarette taxes rose from LKR81.15 billion ($262 million) in 2015 to LKR110 billion in 2023, the state minister said.
In the past two years alone, cigarette consumption decreased by 17 percent, while tax revenue increased by 6 percent.
The Turkish tax inspection authority has issued a record fine of 6 billion Turkish Liras ($181.2 million) to a tobacco manufacturer for unreported revenue. This is part of a comprehensive audit of large taxpayers by the Treasury and Finance Ministry.
In accordance with Minister Mehmet Şimşek’s principle of “taxing the wealthy more,” inspectors from the Tax Audit Board have been conducting ongoing audits. They have started thorough tax inspections using the “yield analysis” method to determine the actual production output of businesses.
This method involves analyzing the materials used in manufacturing, other production inputs, finished goods, and outputs that should have been produced. As a result, a yield analysis and inventory audit were carried out for a company involved in tobacco production.
The calculations considered the capacity and operational hours of the cigarette production lines, along with the company’s consumption data for natural gas, tobacco, and cigarette filters. The audit results revealed that the company had generated unreported revenue, according to media reports.
Certain documents within the company were not included in the legal ledger records and declarations. Moreover, the authorities determined that excise and value-added taxes on the cigarettes, despite being invoiced, were not reflected in the declarations.
After the audit, the company was fined around 6 billion Liras, and the amount is expected to increase due to late payment interest. The minister announced that tax inspectors have started simultaneous inspections of 707 jewelers in nine major cities.