Excise duties on cigarettes, sugar products, cocoa and ice cream, carbonated drinks, tobacco products, carbonated drinks with added sugar, beer and fermented milk carbonated drinks are most likely not going to be increased.
As reported by the publication Dan, this is good news for companies engaged in the production and sale of these products, but not for the Ministry of Finance, which planned to raise excise duties by EUR 16.8 million by the end of the year.
On May 14, the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare (MFB), headed by Milojko Spajić, submitted the proposed amendments to the Excise Duties Law, but this law was not considered.
After the budget proposal was presented in the Assembly, there was much talk about excise duties, and most MPs stated that this was not a very good move and that it could easily happen that excise revenues would fall after the increase. They noted that it was three years ago when excise duties on cigarettes were increased.
Consumers also complained about the planned increase in excise duties, because it would lead to higher prices for cigarettes, carbonated drinks, and ice cream.