Egypt’s finance ministry has decided to raise the prices of imported and locally-produced cigarettes by EGP 2-4, depending on the brand, Al-Borsa reported. The decision comes as an amendment to the sales tax and will see packs of Marlboro, Kent, Merit, Dunhill and Davidoff being sold for EGP 27 each, while L&M, Rothmans, Winston and Lucky Strike will be priced at EGP 19. Meanwhile, the price of a box of Next cigarettes has been set at EGP 17, Cleopatra Black Label will be sold for EGP 16 and other Cleopatra cigarettes will be sold for EGP 12 each. The ministry also decided that vendors who sell cigarettes for more than the set prices will be penalized for tax evasion, in accordance with clause 9-D of Article 47 of the tax law. Ibrahim Embaby, the head of the cigarettes division at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, said that the decision to hike the sales taxes on cigarettes is in the “best interest of the market as a whole.” According to Parlmany, these prices will increase further once the recently-approved value-added tax (VAT) is implemented. Sales taxes on cigarettes have been increased…
