Excise duty - Tobacco products: long cigarettes
The measure
This measure will change the way long cigarettes are treated for excise duty purposes. The measure will amend the legislation so that, in the case of cigarettes longer than 8 cm (excluding any filter), each additional 3 cm (or part thereof) is treated as an additional cigarette for the purposes of the excise duty calculation. For example a cigarette of 12 cm would be treated as three cigarettes.
Who will be affected?
Manufacturers and importers of long cigarettes.
When?
The change will have effect on 1 January 2011.
The technical amendment to the current legislation will affect manufacturers and importers of cigarettes longer than 8 cm. The new amendment reduces by 1 cm (from 9 to 8 cm) the definition of a 'long cigarette'. It also introduces a new concept that one cigarette could be treated as three or more for the purpose of the excise duty calculation (which is a significant increase compared to the current maximum two cigarettes cap).
