Minister finance Andrzej Domański informed that the government does not currently plan to increase excise duty on alcohol. He added that “the so-called road map” for excise duty in this area is maintained. – And so at the moment in I appreciate alcohol excise duty constitutes a huge share – he pointed out in an interview with TVN24.
Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański: Monkeys are flooding Polish cities
He emphasized, however, that “the very high sales of so-called monkeys, which are flooding Polish cities, are still a cause for concern.” – We know that their sales are also very high in the morning hours. This worries both the Minister of Health and myself,” Domański said. He added that “the economic availability of monkeys is of course very high.”
The Minister said he would like to talk to the Minister of Health, Izabela Leszczyna, about specific actions that can be taken in this regard. Leszczyna believes that Ministry of Finance should increase excise duty on both cigarettes and alcohol. The minister also wants to introduce a ban on the sale of alcohol at petrol stations between 10 p.m. and 6 p.m. The project on this matter is already ready.
Cigarette prices to go up. Government to raise excise duty
While the excise tax on alcohol will not be raised, it will be on tobacco products. Minister Domański said that this will happen next year, “because the economic availability of cigarettes in Poland has increased radically”. – In 2015, the average salary could buy about 290 packs of cigarettes, and now it is 490 – he said.
He added that “we have the second cheapest cigarettes in the entire European Union, only in Bulgaria are they cheaper”. He emphasized that health aspects are an absolute priority. – We know that the availability of cigarettes is very high, very young people also reach for tobacco products. We want to limit this in some way – said the Minister of Finance. Government also wants to charge a 40 PLN fee for e-cigarettes. The minister explained that it would be “a fee more for the device than for the cartridges”.
The additional excise duty on tobacco products is to be 25% higher next year compared to the so-called road map, i.e. the current schedule of annual increases. It was adopted two years ago and assumes raising the excise duty rate on alcohol, tobacco products, dried tobacco and innovative products.
The road map foresees that excise duty on ethyl alcohol, beer, wine, fermented beverages excluding cider and perry, and intermediate products increases by 5 percent each year. On the other hand, a 10 percent higher excise duty applies to innovative products and cigarettes and smoking tobacco. Map Road traffic envisages a gradual increase in excise duty rates on alcohol and tobacco products until 2027.