They still increase excise duties on cigarettes, cigars and finely chopped tobacco. The "maneuver" definitively approved last week by the Senate - and entered into force on Monday with its publication in the Official Gazette - establishes that the levy on tobacco will have to bring more revenue into the state coffers for 83 million euros this year and for 125 million in 2018. Does this mean that cigarette packs will cost more? It's not for sure.
In the short term, the increase will be absorbed by producers. Then they will decide whether the increase will affect the price of cigarette packets, cigars and tobacco packages. If so, according to Treasury technicians, the effects on consumer wallets will be those to which smokers are now accustomed: +10 cents a pack, on average.
While waiting to find out what the big tobacco multinationals will decide, we summarize below the current prices of the most popular cigarettes (in alphabetical order), as shown by the State Monopolies tables updated to 8 March 2017. We refer to the rigid packs of 20.
- BENSON & HEDGES RED, BLUE AND WHITE 4,40 €
- CAMEL FILTERS AND BLUE 5 €
- CHESTERFIELD BLUE KS, SILVER BLUE AND RED 100's 4,50 euros
- DIANA BLUE KS AND RED KS 4,70 €
- DUNHILL BLUE AND GOLD 5,20 €
- GAULOISES BLONDES BLUE, YELLOW AND RED 4,70 €
- LUCKY STRIKE RED AND BLUE 4,60 €
- MARLBORO RED, GOLD (LIGHT) AND 100'S 5,40 €
- BLUE AND YELLOW MERIT 5 €
- MS RED AND BLONDE 4,70 €
- MURATTI AMBASSADOR BLUE KS 5,40 €
- PHILIP MORRIS BLUE AND RED 4,60 €
- ROTHMANS BLUE AND RED 5,40 €
- WINSTON BLUE AND SILVER 4,60 €
