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Rabat – Morocco’s tax watchdog, the Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxation (ADII), has announced that the price of tobacco-based products including cigarettes will increase starting January 2023.
Announced under the 2022 state budget, the increase is part of Morocco’s five-year strategy to curb the smoking epidemic in the country by raising tariffs. The new tax hike would mean that cigarettes sold in Morocco would see a MAD 1 to MAD 2 increase per pack.
The year 2023 marks the second year of the implementation of the strategy since its introduction under the 2022 state budget. The strategy aims to gradually increase tax on tobacco-based products on an annual basis for a period of five years.
The prices of other products deemed as a public health hazard are also set to increase. As the government introduced the 2023 draft budget for approval, it was unveiled that water pipes — commonly known as “shisha” — and electronic cigarettes are set to become more expensive.
For shisha, the new tax means that for every kilo of shisha smoking material, consumers would have to pay MAD 675 ($63).
Besides tobacco-based products, the government announced plans to impose a new tax on some sugar-intensive products including soft drinks, in a bid to protect citizens’ health.
As the tax will be implemented on January 1, tax revenues from tobacco are expected to reach MAD 12.5 billion ($1.1 billion), nearly a 6% increase that tax authorities will collect from manufacturers. The cost will naturally be passed down to consumers, making cigarettes more expensive.
