Fifth time in 14 months government has raised tobacco tax

[toddcl]

introduced last Friday to increase the minimum tax on tobacco from 55 euros to 70 euros per thousand cigarettes - would encourage many people to give up the habit. The change only affects the cheapest brands


The new legislation will affect the lowest-priced brands which cost less than 2.17 euros for 20. If the tobacco companies decide to pass on the 8.2 per cent tax increase to consumers, a pack of cigarettes currently costing 1.95 euros will rise in price to 2.11 euros

http://www.costadelsolnews.es/localnews ... index.html

[Grouser]

Still much too cheap.

[melandsharon]

Our spanish friends cant beleive it we tell them how much they are in the UK, but then neither of us smoke so it doesnt affect us

[swerve]

yea lets make them 10 euro a packet and get a bit closer to the uk nanny state situation.lets not forget people smoke thru choice just as non smokers do not

[masterob]

I take it you are referring to the UK "nanny State" that provides NHS medical treatment to those who, through their own choice, end up with smoking-related illnesses? Nanny State or not, sometimes people need protecting from their own stupidity:roll:

[peteroldracer]

people need protecting from their own stupidity:roll:

Are you saying we should roll our own?
On a more serious note, I smoked for 43 years, becoming addicted well before anyone knew (or would admit) that this happened, from buying penny Domino cigs singly from the little shop we passed on cross-country running (!) to Capstan Full Strength, a pipe, small cigars, ending up on 3 packs a day of Benson & Hedges before "cutting back" to 2 packs a day of SuperKings. I stopped dead after nearly becoming dead with heart problems, three years ago. What I have never seen in the anti-smoking campaigns is the common effect on the cardiovascular system of male impotence, due to the poor blood flow, not even correctable with v i a g r a because of the risk of heart attacks for smokers....if some of the health professionals asked young men, who are driven by and from their nether regions, if they were happy to not be able to pursue their favourite hobby, they might think twice about that next ciggy!
I can also turn a few sensitive souls green with a graphic description of what bi-lateral femoral angioplasty is like......having wires stuffed through the tubing in your groin under local anesthesia so you can feel the blood trickling down your legs - just because I could not walk 50 metres with my furred-up blood supply!

[katy]

You could add the fatties, druggies, alcoholics and on and on....at least the smokers finance their ill-health, they don't last long when they get the C.

BTW as a smoker I notice that despite the new laws its possible to buy a packet anywhere, they are just under the counter

[JAWG]

pack of cigarettes currently costing 1.95 euros will rise in price to 2.11 euros

In Canadian $ that would be about $3.05.
Here in Ottawa, the current cost (in Cdn $) is $8.80. (I don't smoke but my wife does.) Cost varies by Province in Canada as Provincial Tax Rates differ. The high cost has resulted in about a 25% drop in smokers over the last 10 years or so.
I don't know what they cost in Britain but I understand it may well be higher than in Canada.

[anewlife]

Always the reformed 'non smokers' that make a stand on this, never the people that have never smoked! Maybe that's why they won't introduce the Euro in the UK cos it would be totally embarrassing for people visiting from Europe to see just how much tax is put on a pack of cigs - i.e. for a 20 pack here would cost 1.95€, in the UK would cost about 8.00€, likewise with tobacco, costs 4.30€ and in the UK about 10 POUNDS??? Just a very tax greedy government.

While I am on the subject of 'health', we have now been told that we cannot have solar panels on properties in the village where we live, because the mayor says it makes them look like a 'blot on the landscape'... so where is all this energy saving waffle coming from.. which includes smokers, car drivers etc.??? Can the consumer win at all????? I thought that going 'green' was in everybody's interests, it certainly is a hot topic in the UK at the mo...

[Grouser]

Always the reformed 'non smokers' that make a stand on this, never the people that have never smoked!

That's because it's the reformed ones that have actually experienced what a pernicious, filthy, detrimental addiction smoking is, and just how hard it is to give up. I have tried all sorts of things in my time, especially in a misspent youth and nothing was harder to stop than smoking, even when I woke up coughing my guts up. As soon as the cough stopped I would reach for the f*gs.

[anewlife]

Yes, and as Katy says, smokers finance their own way of weeding off the drug - if you were a cocaine user, you would get help with methodone to weed you off it - the same with alcoholics and now the same with obese people - where is the 'free' government help for smokers trying to give it up??? They won't do it because they know that the less people who smoke, the less they will earn in 'fat over inflated taxes'. They only help drug users because they don't in fact earn any 'tax' from that, as it is imported illegally and it's difficult to catch those that bring the drugs in! And as for obesity, it's another excuse to say that those who eat too much and are a danger to themselves, should not be treated on the NHS, but they do.... and why not if they have paid into the system all their lives. Isn't that what the NHS and NI payments are for??? Or am I losing the plot....??? We all do things we shouldn't do in our lives that are bad for us, but why should we be penalised for small things, like smoking, being obese or whatever?? The way of life will never change - there will still be smokers, drug users and obesity, so what will the government do to overcome these problems in years to come?

[kevin77]

Lets face it, if ciggies & booze were put up to UK prices it would slash immigration to Spain at a stroke.
Many of our compatriots I have to admit have got their life sorted and are truly 'living their dream' - cheap alcohol/smokes/drugs with 300 days of sunshine and SkyTV. What more could you possibly want?

[Shukran]

I would much rather sit at the next table to an obese person rather than somebody who is polluting the whole room with smoke. Smoking has a detrimental affect on both smokers and non-smokers - being obese only affects themselves. In my estimation, smokers are the selfish ones as they don't care if their habits affect others - I know, I'm married to one. The trouble is, no matter what they raise the price to, most smokers will just carry on smoking regardless.

[jenna m]

The EU are voting next week (I think) on changes which will allow you, to have your cigarettes or drink posted to you from a country where the duty is much cheaper e.g. Latvia...... is it 1.20 euro for a packet of 20 cigs?! :)

[Solysombra]

yea lets make them 10 euro a packet and get a bit closer to the uk nanny state situation.lets not forget people smoke thru choice just as non smokers do not

Clearly an educated and informed opinion from "swerve" eh

[masterob]

anewlife said

Always the reformed 'non smokers' that make a stand on this, never the people that have never smoked! Maybe that's why they won't introduce the Euro in the UK cos it would be totally embarrassing for people visiting from Europe to see just how much tax is put on a pack of cigs - i.e. for a 20 pack here would cost 1.95€, in the UK would cost about 8.00€, likewise with tobacco, costs 4.30€ and in the UK about 10 POUNDS??? Just a very tax greedy government.

I think the debate on whether the UK should join the Eurozone goes a little deeper than this! As a point of interest, in the taxation league, taking the % of gross earnings given up in tax including social security contributions for a married couple with 2 children and earning 100% of the average wage, 31% of earnings go in tax in Spain compared to 17.8% in the UK. Spain is 13th in the league with the UK at 23rd. So, which is the tax greedy Government then?

smokers finance their own way of weeding off the drug - if you were a cocaine user, you would get help with methodone to weed you off it - the same with alcoholics and now the same with obese people - where is the 'free' government help for smokers trying to give it up???

Smokers get assistance under the NHS to give it up including, if necessary free prescriptions for nicotine patches! If you don´t believe me, Google "NHS Give up smoking" and you will find all about it!

[Grouser]

As masterrob points out there is plenty of help from the NHS to give up smoking and has been for a long time. When I gave up I got three months supply of nicotine chewing gum, none of which I needed to use fortunately. I passed it on to someone else. The government also spends a great deal of money on anti smoking advertising campaigns and informing people of all the drawbacks of the habit. The high price of tobacco is not only an incentive for people to give up, it is also a disincentive for people (especially youngsters) to start. I am sure this approach has been paying off. Twenty years ago myself and the majority of my friends smoked, now hardly any do. As for the peculiar idea that the government needs people to smoke for the tax income it gets from it, I am sure that the medical costs of illness from cancer, bronchitis, emphysema, heart disease and all the other smoking related diseases plus the lost productivity from the sick and dead workers more than cancels that out. If not what a good reason to give up smoking. Deprive the Chancellor of his ill gotten gains

[toddcl]

The NHS also treats all those who self inflict injuries such as all those crazy sports people! The A&E is full of footballers, Rugby players, runners and cyclists not to mention the martial arts mob and dangerous sport such as parachuting, hangliding, motorcycling etc.

[katy]

As I said where do you draw the line or perhaps the health service is only for the self-rightous. If its not universal then shouldn't the ones who pay most and take out the least have superior treatment and less waiting times The Gov. could always start a questionnaire when you start paying into the system eg. Do you smoke/drink/take drugs/eat burgers/participate in dangerous sports/practice safe sex etc.

[Faire d'Income]

I take it you are referring to the UK "nanny State" that provides NHS medical treatment to those who, through their own choice, end up with smoking-related illnesses? Nanny State or not, sometimes people need protecting from their own stupidity:roll:

If I were you, I'd check how much revenue HMG collects from tobacco duty (£10.5 billion) and then compare it to NHS expenditure on smoking related diseases - £1.7 billion.

In effect, smokers are significantly subsidising the NHS.