20.08.2024 The current tobacco tax policy in Germany is – to put it mildly – suboptimal.
Smoking costs the healthcare system and the economy 97 billion euros a year.
More than 30 billion of these costs arise from the treatment, care and rehabilitation of smokers and people who fall ill as a result of passive smoking. 67 billion euros are lost to society because smokers die earlier or are unable to work for longer periods of time.
These massive costs were offset by only 14.7 billion euros in revenue from tobacco tax in 2023, meaning that the economic costs of smoking significantly exceed tobacco tax revenue.
Higher tobacco taxes lead to fewer smokers, a healthier population and lower healthcare costs and productivity losses. A potentially lower tobacco tax revenue would then be compensated for in the medium term by savings in social security and additional revenue from income tax, for example.
This week we are sending a corresponding position paper on the tobacco tax increase to the political decision-makers at federal level.