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Gasparovic Inks Tax Amendments on Tobacco and Red Diesel
Tuesday 14 December 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 14 (TASR) - President Ivan Gasparovic on Tuesday signed two more bills recently approved in Parliament, namely one concerning an increase in excise-tax on tobacco products and another that abolishes tax relief on so-called red diesel (mainly used by farmers) along with the tax exemption for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), TASR learnt on the same day.
The increase in the excise-tax rate on tobacco products is expected to yield an additional €15.9 million for the state budget next year and another €21.2 million in 2012.
The Government decided to amend the relevant law partly in order to meet a European Union requirement to introduce gradual hikes in consumer-tax on tobacco products so that it reaches at least 60 percent of the weighted average price of cigarettes by 2014.
It is expected that the extra revenues will also assist the Government in its attempts to consolidate Slovakia's public finances.
The amendment to the Mineral Oil Excise Tax Act, for its part, was passed in the House notwithstanding a farmers petition against the abolition of tax relief that included more than 115,000 signatures.
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