Morocco’s Administration of Customs and Indirect Tax (ADII) has published the list of new prices of cigarettes. The updated list shows cigarette price increases primarily impact low-cost cigarette brands.
ADII circulated the notice on December 30.
The increases affect rolled and rolling tobacco, molasses used in hookahs, and cigars. The price increase will be 2 dirhams in some brands and higher for others.
Cigarette price increases come following meetings of the commission for the Approval of Prices of Manufactured Tobacco Products, affiliated with the Finance Ministry, held on December 14 and 15. The commission validated the price of manufactured tobacco products that will enter into effect starting January 1, 2021.
Morocco’s government recently announced plans to change the present tobacco tax regime as part of the national finance bill for 2022.
The tax change would offer additional income to the government while also lowering the price differential between low-cost and “premium” cigarettes.
Between 2022 and 2026, the government plans a progressive tax rate that would gradually increase the amount of taxes that cigarette consumers pay. Tobacco merchants would be required to charge a minimum of MAD 710.2 ($78.59) per 1,000 cigarettes from 2022 to MAD 953 (105.46) in 2026 under the proposed policy.
Read also: New Tobacco Reforms in Morocco Will Enter Into Force in 2024
Low-cost cigarette producers have historically kept prices low by using low-quality tobacco in their cigarettes.
Premium cigarettes are expected to cost an average of 40 MAD per pack by 2026, according to tobacco industry executives.
Morocco’s Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxes published new measures for the administration of raw and produced tobacco in September, which will take effect in January 2024. The objective of the newly issued decree is to align tobacco manufacturing in Morocco with international standards.
