German finance ministry blunder: Higher tobacco tax takes effect years early
A tobacco tax rise phased in through 2030 was meant to start in 2027, but a dating error put it into force on Wednesday. Customs will tolerate old prices for now; the industry is demanding legal certainty.
Archive image · Photo: Perituss / Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped and resized)
An amendment to Germany's tobacco tax law has taken effect far earlier than planned because of an error. The phased increase through 2030, passed by the Bundestag, was supposed to begin in early 2027 but was published in the Federal Law Gazette with immediate effect on Oct. 21. The Finance Ministry called it an oversight, according to the legal news site LTO: the wrong date was already in the draft bill and went unnoticed during the legislative process. A correction has been initiated.
A ministry spokesperson said lawmakers had a "clearly recognizable intention" for the increase to apply only from 2027, LTO reported, citing broadcaster Tagesschau. Customs authorities have been told to tolerate the old prices until further notice. New tax stamps reflecting the changes do not yet exist, the report said.
The tobacco industry is pressing for swift action. "The federal government must now very quickly create legal certainty so production can continue," Jan Mücke of the industry association BVTE told dpa. According to LTO, a fix would be possible through a correction procedure requiring the approval of the presidents of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. A pack of 20 cigarettes currently costs about 8 euros on average and is expected to reach nearly 12 euros by 2030.