Cigarettes will be more expensive. Excise taxes will increase

MPs reviewed information from the health and finance ministries on health-promoting measures to prevent tobacco and alcohol consumption.

Deputy Minister Neneman stressed that in terms of both excise tax and cigarette prices, Poland ranks penultimate in Europe. - Cigarettes are cheap and getting cheaper in Poland, he said. The reason for this is the collapse of the excise map - in recent years it has stopped "keeping up" with inflation and the growth of society's income, so tobacco products began to get relatively cheaper from an already low level. Now, as the Finance Minister has already announced recently, this is set to change. Excise taxes will increase by 25 percent compared to the schedule that was on the map until 2027. The Finance Ministry, the deputy minister said, has met twice with tobacco industry representatives in connection with the excise tax change plans.

Information provided by Neneman also shows that the MF wants excise taxes to be imposed on all nicotine products. - At the moment, some products are outside the system, he stressed. A major change is also expected to be the introduction of a 40-zloty fee on vaporization devices, which would affect both single- and multi-use vaporizers. Especially in the case of the former, the impact would be severe, because at the moment the price of many devices of this type fluctuates around twenty-odd or thirty zlotys. In the case of reusable devices, the fee would not be so severe.

As for cigarette prices, Neneman said, after the planned changes, if it is assumed that manufacturers will raise prices by the inflation rate, a pack of cigarettes in 2027 should cost about PLN 27 (compared to about PLN 17-18 at the moment). At the same time, the deputy minister informed the subcommittee that no additional alcohol excise duties are planned this year.

The government, meanwhile, as resounded during the meeting, wants to reduce the physical availability of alcohol by banning its sale at gas stations - but this is only the initial stage of the work.

The session of the parliamentary subcommittee was attended by doctors, addiction therapists and tobacco industry representatives. The president of the Polish Public Health Association, Professor Andrzej Fal, assessed that the increase in the price of cigarettes and e-cigarettes is necessary, as it will certainly translate into more difficult access to them for children and young people. - However, fiscal policy alone will not fix the issue, he said, stressing both the need to bet on health education in this area and greater state activity in preventing advertising and exposure of products containing substances harmful to health. As long as they are displayed "between carrots and chocolate" in stores, he said, it will be difficult to achieve success.