Germany - tobacco taxes to increase in May 2011..

December 18, 2010 - Berlin - The cost of smoking is to increase in Germany from next year, after the upper house of parliament agreed Friday to raise tobacco taxes. The incremental increases will begin in May 2011 and push the average cost of leading brands' 19-cigarette packs over 5 euros (6.6 dollars) by the year 2015.

The tax increase, between 0.04 to 0.08 cents annually per pack over the next 5 years, is aimed at compensating financial losses generated by tax relief measures for industries with high energy consumption.

October 27, 2010 - German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government plans to raise tobacco taxes over the next five years, generating as much as 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in fresh revenue for the federal budget by 2015. Beginning next year, the government will raise a predicted 200 million euros through the tax, rising to 1 billion by 2015.(Germany - tobacco tax to increase incrementally over next 5-years..)

The greatest increases in tobacco tax are to hit loose tobacco, which will increase annually by 0.12 to 0.14 cents for a 40-gramme pack. Cigarillos, cigars and pipe tobacco will also be hit by the increase.

Reference: Price of cigarettes to rise in Germany, MonstersandCritics.com, 12/17/2010.

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