Austrian daily Der Standard reported this week that one of the sticking points in the coalition negotiations between the Austrian People’s Party (OVP) and the Austrian Freedom Party (FPA) is the proposed smoking ban due to come into force in May 2018. Read More
In response to criticisms raised by ESTA and others, Politico last week reported European Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis as saying the Commission had included “a number of additional derogations and lighter measures for small companies” in its regulation for a tobacco track and trace system. Read More
An obvious correlation exists between the highest levels of illegal and non-domestic consumption (e.g. France, UK, Ireland, Poland and Finland) and the highest taxation rates applied to fine-cut toconsbacco, in comparison with cigarettes. The figures clearly show that any alignment of tobacco taxation, regardless of the products’ specificities, will prevent fine-cut tobacco from fulfilling its buffer function, leading to increased illegal trade of cigarettes and driving down government revenues.
Read more about the relationship between tax and illegal trade