We were interested in learning what our respondents thought about the proposed introduction of the same excise duty on e-cigarettes and heated tobacco as on traditional cigarettes.
In recent years, many smokers have switched from smoking traditional cigarettes to heated tobacco and electronic cigarettes. There may be several reasons for this change. Some consider them a less harmful alternative or less “annoying” for the environment. However, a significantly lower tax burden is also a significant factor, which has a considerable effect on the price at which cigarettes are purchased
While the excise tax on cigarettes has been increasing in the Czech Republic in recent years, and it is moving further away from countries such as Slovakia and Poland, where the excise tax on these products is lower, the EU is considering a more unified approach to the taxation of classic cigarettes and their alternatives across all EU countries. On the one hand, there is an opinion that electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco should be taxed at a significantly lower rate due to their relatively lower harmfulness. But according to various non-profit organizations as well as the World Health Organization, these alternatives to traditional cigarettes should be taxed in the same way.
We asked our respondents what they thought about it. Whether smokers or non smokers, we wondered if they thought electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco should be taxed in the same way as traditional cigarettes.
The same application of consumption tax is definitely supported by more than 1/3 of respondents, across all ENP countries. Significantly more are men (CZ, SK, PL) and university educated people. In general (rather yes + definitely yes) more than half of all respondents are in favor of this solution, regardless of whether they are smokers or not. The most were in Poland (60%) and the Czech Republic (58%), on the contrary, the least were in Bulgaria (51%). On the contrary, Hungarians, people aged between 18-44 and also people with lower education (primary school and vocational training without a high school diploma) expressed a decisive NO.
On this occasion, we were also interested in how many of our respondents were smokers and how much they invest in this vice of theirs each month.
We have the highest amount of smokers in Bulgaria, where almost 2/3 of our respondents smoke, which is significantly different from the other ENP countries (SK, PL, HU), where the proportion of smokers is around 45% on average. On the other hand, there are significantly more non-smokers in the Czech Republic, up to 64%. In this country, this unhealthy habit is the least popular. The largest number of non-smokers can be found among people aged 60 and over (67%) and people with university education (65%).
It is probably no surprise that Bulgarians spend the most on smoking per month. Up to 16% of them spend around 1,500-2,000 CZK per month on cigarettes, tobacco products, electronic cigarettes, and heated tobacco. Especially people aged 30-44 and people without a high school diploma. It is interesting that young Bulgarians aged 18-29 spend the largest amounts on smoking (7% spend more than CZK 3,000 per month). The fact that, while the costs of smoking are the highest in the Czech Republic, the price of tobacco products in Bulgaria, on the other hand, is the most favorable compared to other ENP countries.