Excise tax on beer, cigarettes and cosmetics remains unchanged

The Sejm, however, has kept the excise tax at the same level as in 2003. "The excise tax on beer in Poland is almost twice as high as in neighboring countries, which might lead to excessive imports. This means a fall in revenues for the budget of over zł. 900 million," said Danuta Gut from the Employers' Union of the Beer Industry. In the case of tobacco, the representatives of the sector warn that cigarette smuggling has been constantly on the rise for the past few years. "The losses to the budget will increase due to erroneous regulations which are not in accordance with the EU directives," announced Marek Maj, of the tobacco plant in Lublin. According to estimates, the lack of changes in the excise tax rate on beer, tobacco, and cosmetics might lead to a fall in budget revenues by zł. 4 billion annually. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2) A.K.