Tobacco tax officially increased today

The city’s taxes on tobacco products officially increased to more than 70 per cent of the sale price from today, the Official Gazette announced yesterday.
Starting from today, the tax on each cigarette will amount to MOP1.5 (US$19 cents) whilst the tax per kilogram of cigars or cigarillos will reach MOP4,326. This means that a pack of 20 cigarettes will retail at MOP20 more for consumers compared to the original tax of MOP0.5 per cigarette.
In addition to the tax hike the new law passed by the Legislative Assembly last Thursday reduces the duty-free allowance for visitors entering Macau to 19 cigarettes from the original 100.
Meanwhile, the city’s Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, said yesterday that he believes there will be cases of people slowly smuggling cigarettes to evade the new tobacco taxes following the implementation of the law today. He noted, however, that Macau Customs has completed its preparation to combat such smuggling cases.
K.L.