Excise tax to increase on cigarettes and alcohol from 2016
Parliament approved the law on increasing cigarettes and alcohol excise tax.
Fixed rate on excise will increase from January 1st, 2016 on the following products: Filtered cigarettes (20 sticks) - with 0.20 GEL; Non-filtered cigarettes (20 sticks) – with 0.05 GEL; One stick of cigarette and 20 sticks of cigarillos – with 0.4 GEL; 1 kg of pipe-smoked, chewed or inhaled tobacco - with 5 GEL. Filter and non-filter cigarettes (20 sticks) proportionate excise will increase from 5 to 10 per cent.
Also, excise tax rate will increase on whisky, rum and tuffy, gin and juniper liquor from 10 to 15 GEL, while other alcoholic beverages and ethyl spirit (except for grape wine or grappa distillate-born spirit beverages, liquors and some other low content alcohol) excise tax rate will increase to 10 GEL.
The bill will increase income in the budget by about 90 million GEL in 2016. According to the Government, tightening control on tobacco and optimization of alcohol excise rate is in respect with EU legislation.