The board of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s (BiH) Indirect Taxation Authority (ITA) adopted a decision on establishing the specific and minimum excise tax on cigarettes and tobacco for 2019.
ITA members, at a session held today in Mostar, have established that the new minimum and specific excise duties on cigarettes and tobacco will apply from 1 January 2019.
According to the adopted decision, which is based on the Excise Law in BiH, the minimum excise tax will be 2.86 BAM instead of the current 2.60 BAM per box of cigarettes, while the excise tax on smoking tobacco will be 114.40 BAM per kilogram instead of the previous 104 BAM.
In total, the specific excise duty on cigarettes for 2019 should amount to 1.60 BAM per cigarette box instead of the current 1.50 BAM.
In December 2017, ITA announced new prices of cigarettes, which will be applied from January 1, 2018. At that time, manufacturers and distributers of cigarettes were required to submit new retail prices of cigarettes, which will be applied from the beginning of 2018, and they are determined in accordance with the Decision on determining special and minimum excise duties for cigarettes and the amount of excise duties for tobacco for 2018, to the Indirect Taxation Authority of BiH until November 30, 2017.
With the Decision on determining special and minimum excise duties for cigarettes and the amount of excise duties for tobacco for 2018 was defined that following excise duties will be paid for cigarettes from January 1, 2018:
(a) proportional excise with the rate of 42 % of retail price of cigarettes
(b) specific excise duty in the amount of 75 BAM for 1000 pieces, i.e. 1.50 BAM for the packaging of 20 pieces.
In case that total excise duty on cigarettes (proportional + specific), which is calculated according to aforementioned rates, is less than the minimum excise, then minimum excise duty will be paid and it amounts to 2.60 BAM per box of cigarettes for packaging of 20 pieces.
Excise duties on tobacco in 2018 is determined in a way that it amounts to 80 % of minimum excise on cigarettes in 2018 and it amounts to a total of 104 BAM per kilogram.
This decision represents a continuation of the process of harmonization of excise policy in BiH with the policy on excise duties on cigarettes in the EU.
