Tax hikes on tobacco, alcohol raise smuggling worries

The government’s first tax increases of the new year were introduced on fixed taxes on cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, the Turkish media reported on Thursday, stoking fears of increased smuggling of such products into the country.

According to a Cabinet decision published in the Official Gazette on Thursday, the fixed tax on beer has been increased to TL 0.85 per liter from TL 0.74, a 15 percent rise. As for wine, the fixed tax was raised to TL 4.59 from TL 3.97, a 16 percent increase. The tax on rakı rose by 21 percent to TL 107.72 per liter from TL 89.11. For cigarettes, the fixed tax has reached TL 0.1866 per pack, up from TL 0.13.