Future excise duty on cigarettes in Poland could be linked to price or wage growth
In the future, the excise duty on cigarettes in Poland could be linked to the growth of inflation or the average wage in the economy, deputy finance minister Jaroslaw Neneman told a seminar in Warsaw.
"Most excises, not all, have a specific monetary value. This is the structure of excise duties. It has its positive sides, and the negative side is that these rates have to be changed, especially in times when prices, incomes are rising, so specific rates lose their value in real terms," Neneman said.
"What can be done for the future? The excise rate would need to be linked to the average wage, to inflation, to something that is automatic, objective.
The deputy finance minister said that for the future the roadmap could be made so that excise duty would be calculated from, for example, the increase in the average salary in the economy plus 2 percentage points.
"This seems a reasonable solution because on the one hand, it would reduce the availability of cigarettes, and on the other hand, which is important for business, it would give a sense of certainty," he added.
From January 1, 2025, a new so-called roadmap for excise duties on tobacco products, e-cigarettes, and novelty products comes into force.
The new legislation increases the scale of increases in this tax compared to the original version of the roadmap. As a result, the budget is expected to receive PLN 3.5 billion (EUR 812.3 mln) more per year in revenue from this source.
The amended law assumes that in 2025, the monetary value of the excise rate for cigarettes will increase by 25 percent, in 2026 - by 20 percent and in 2027 - by 15 percent.
The monetary value of the excise duty on smoking tobacco will be increased by 38 percent next year, by 30 percent in 2026 and by 22 percent in 2027.
tus/ han/ nl/