The Gandul piece has a lengthy quote from the Health Minister about how the smoking tax money goes towards helping fight cancer and vaccinate the population, etcetera, all of which are noble causes but it just illustrates once again the poor strategies employed by this (and every other Romanian) government. In short, Romania collects about 1.5 billion lei (or about 350 million Euros) per year on excise taxes (usually referred to as “vice” or “sin” taxes) on cigarettes and yet spends a grand total of 200 thousand lei (or 48 thousand Euros) on smoking cessation projects.Īll of these excise taxes are paid for by smokers but the government healthcare system uses only a tiny fraction of it (just over a tenth of one percent) to directly help smokers quit smoking. ![]() But yes, that’s what I was doing, all because of a report in Gandul (link in Romanian) about how this country’s excise taxes are spent. If you’re like me then there’s nothing more fun than browsing through lengthy European Union documents on taxation on a Sunday morning.
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