19:30 14 October 2021
Doctors and economists call for change in the excise tax on cigarettes
The Ministry of Finance is planning changes in the excise tax on tobacco products. According to the Ministry's proposal, the excise tax on cigarettes is to increase by 10 percent, but from 2023, while the specific excise duty on tobacco for heating is to increase by 100 percent already from the new year. According to doctors and economists, such a raise is symbolic and will not translate into the pro-health behavior of Poles. The Ministry of Finance also announced that Poland, along with Bulgaria, has the lowest cigarette prices in the European Union.
According to Andrzej Sadowski, the president of the Adam Smith Center, this is only a symbolic increase, not a real change that could discourage smokers from smoking.
"It may turn out that the current proposal of the Ministry of Finance, taking into account inflation and price wars on the tobacco market, de facto will even increase the attractiveness of those market segments based on cheaper and therefore more accessible products. The government declared that the most harmful stimulants should be limited in favor of the less harmful ones, which cause much lower negative effects. This action somewhat contradicts it," Andrzej Sadowski added.
(Newseria)
