Cigarettes will increase in price by nearly 2.40 leva per pack due to changes in the EU directive on excise duties on tobacco products. The minimum excise tax per pack of cigarettes will become just over 6 leva. This is clear from a statement by the "Bulgaria Without Smoke" Association and "Coalition for a Life Without Tobacco Smoke" on the draft budget for 2025, which has already been adopted by the parliament at first reading.
A draft version of the European Commission's document on changes in tobacco taxation provides for the new minimum excise rate on cigarettes to be 180 euros per 1,000 pieces or 3.60 euros per pack. This is a double increase in the minimum excise duty on cigarettes in EU countries, which is currently 90 euros per 1,000 pieces, but not less than 60% of the average retail selling price.
For countries like Bulgaria, the European Commission has proposed that excise duties on cigarettes become nationally specific through a formula that takes into account the price level in individual countries, the NGOs state in their opinion. Data from the European Statistical Office show that the prices of tobacco products in our country are 56.6% of the average level for EU countries.
With a new minimum excise duty level for EU countries of 180 euros per 1,000 pieces, the new minimum excise duty for Bulgaria will be 153.96 euros per 1,000 pieces, or 301.12 leva per 1,000 pieces, the NGOs calculate. This makes a minimum excise duty of 6.02 leva. per pack of cigarettes, writes "Trud".
Currently, according to the Excise and Tax Warehouses Act, the minimum excise tax for one pack is 4.05 leva. This would require the minimum excise tax to be increased by over 48% in order to reach the level of excise tax for cigarettes set in the draft of the new directive. The increase in the minimum excise tax will be nearly 2 leva per pack. But 20% VAT is also paid on the excise tax. Thus, the real increase in taxes on each pack of cigarettes will be nearly 2.40 leva.