[August 27, 2007] Slovak cigarette prices to grow as of 2008 Tweet (Czech News Agency Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Bratislava, Aug 22 (CTK) - Slovak cigarette prices will grow again as of 2008 owing to a new bill raising excise tax, approved by the cabinet today. The price of a pack of the top-selling brand should grow from Sk50 to Sk60 after the tax change which is subject to approval by the parliament. At present, excise tax on cigarettes is calculated as the aggregate of Sk1.10 per cigarette and a flexible sum equal to 23 percent of retail cigarette price. The new bill raises the fixed sum to Sk1.36 and the flexible item to 25 percent. The minimum excise tax should grow from Sk1.70 to Sk2.10 apiece. The Finance Ministry expects the measure to bring an additional Sk1.2 billion to the state budget in 2008 and more than Sk1.4 billion in the next two years. Last year, the state collected over Sk11.4 billion in excise tax on tobacco. This year, the revenue should grow by more than Sk2 billion. frj/er Copyright 2007 Czech News Agency, Source: The Financial Times Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]