Cabinet decision: smoking is getting more and more expensive | tagesschau.de

The tobacco tax will be increased and expanded: in the future it will also apply to electronic cigarettes and tobacco heaters. The objective of this government decision is to improve health protection. Criticism of this doesn’t just come from the tobacco industry.

Users of electronic cigarettes and tobacco warmers will soon have to dig deeper into their pockets: the Federal Cabinet passed a tobacco tax reform, according to which this will not only apply to conventional tobacco products such as cigarettes, but also to tobacco products. electronic cigarettes and tobacco liquids. Tobacco heaters, in which the tobacco is only heated and not burned, should no longer be taxed like pipe tobacco, but like regular cigarettes and therefore also higher than before. Based on its own information, the industry expects the retail price of these product groups to increase by as much as 100 percent, exactly by how much is unclear.

The tobacco tax was last increased in 2015. It is now expected to increase by an average of around eight cents per year for a pack of 20 cigarettes from 2022 to 2026. A pack currently costs around seven euros in Germany. For a 40 gram package of fine cut, the amount increases by an average of 13 to 16 cents per year during the same period. In addition, the existing minimum tax for cigars / cigarillos and pipe tobacco will be adjusted.

The federal government justifies the step with more protection for health and youth. In addition, the tax authorities want to receive more money: in the next year, the additional tax revenue due to the reform should be 1,200 million euros, this annual increase should increase to 3,500 million euros by 2026.

Industry criticism, praise from doctors

The tobacco industry is criticizing the much higher taxes on tobacco heaters and e-cigarettes. Until now, manufacturers have relied on these alternative products to secure their business, on the one hand, and to polish their image, on the other: Despite the existing risks, electronic tobacco products are considered less harmful to health than conventional tobacco products. .

Philip Morris Germany Managing Director Claudia Oeking said it was “sensible that moderate and steadily increasing tobacco taxes on combustion products such as cigarettes […] proposed. “However, the now targeted tax increase” would create an absurd steering effect from expensive products, with a demonstrable reduction of pollutants to significantly cheaper and also more harmful combustion products. ”

The tobacco industry, together with the police union (GdP), warns of an undesirable side effect of the tobacco tax reform: a black market similar to that of cigarettes could develop in the future, as the increase in the prices of the products Alternative tobacco attracts smugglers. As a result, the state could end up getting much less tax revenue than expected.

The professional association of pediatricians, for its part, praised the reform because alternatives to cigarettes would be more expensive and therefore less attractive to young people. The association refers to past experiences with alcoholic beverages: in the case of alcoholic beverages, it was seen that a tax increase could discourage adolescents from consuming these products. “We are convinced that a tax increase can also have a guiding effect on e-cigarettes,” he said.

Demand for higher graduation

The Bundestag has yet to approve the reform. The criticism comes from the opposition. The member of the Green Bundestag, Stefan Schmidt, considers that the regulation is very little differentiating. It is true that “tobacco heaters and electronic cigarettes should be taxed more because these products are harmful to health.” However, a fiscal equality of new products with regular cigarettes “is not appropriate, because tobacco heaters and electronic cigarettes are less harmful to health than cigarettes.” Schmidt called for taxes on smoke and vapor products to be based on their harmful potential: the more harmful the product, the higher the tax.

Also from the ranks of the ruling coalition itself, there was opposition to the proposed law by the Federal Ministry of Finance led by the SPD. CDU politician Antje Tillmann said it was right to finally include nicotine-containing liquids in tobacco taxes. “This step is overdue.” With a view to the significant tax increase planned for alternative cigarette products, he also demanded: “Possible lower harmfulness should be reflected in the level of taxes on cigarettes and e-cigarettes.”