The Italian Tobacconist Federation: Illiterate Lobbyists at Work

La voce del tabaccaio - copertina numero 16 - aprile 2012

La voce del tabaccaio (The Tobacconists’’ Voice) - no. 16 - April 2012

According to the European Union, the increase of cigarette prices has to be the result of greater fiscal pressure; it must not be the result of the manufacturers’ decisions to hike prices to earn higher profits, because this is a swindle that damages the citizen.

But the Italian Tobacconists Federation - Federazione Italiana Tabaccai –, sponsored by Philip Morris, continues to repeat its blatant disinformation aimed at safeguarding the profits of the multinationals, totally without respect for its members. This pseudo-federation is trying to explain to tobacconists that it is good that the swindle continues and that cigarette prices continue to rise whenever Philip Morris decides it, and that it is not a good if the State earns the money by raising taxes. Read more »

The TAR of Lazio, Yesmoke Wins: Away with the “Minimum Tax”

Bandiera della Yesmoke al ReichstagThe hearing was held on the 21st of March; the sentence was published on the 5th of April: the II Section of the TAR, the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio has upheld the appeal of Yesmoke. The Italian cigarette market has been definitively liberalized with the cancellation of D.L. 94, the so-called «Tassa Minima». This “Minimum Tax” had been contrived to get around the ruling of the European Court of Justice, which on June 24th 2010 had abolished the “Prezzo Minimo”, “Minimum Price” of cigarettes. Read more »

2012: Tax Revenues at a Dead-End?

Strada Senza UscitaThe latest issue of "Tobacco Observatory", published by the REF - Ricerche Economia Finanza, predicts that "The path to achieving the revenue objectives in 2012 promises to be difficult".

But the REF does not explain why there is this difficulty, nor does it indicate the logical solution. This is because the "Cigarette Price Swindle," which we have been denouncing for years and which has led the Italian Treasury into a dead end, enriches the REF’s official sponsor, British American Tobacco Italia. Read more »

The Cigarette Swindle – a Test for Monti

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Murales at the Yesmoke factory in Settimo Torinese

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Italian politicians who have succeeded one another have always worked hand in hand with the AAMS opposing increases of tax pressure on cigarettes i.e. the rate of excise duties, opting for tariff maneuvers that have protected the profits of the giant foreign manufacturers. Our politicians have stolen money from the collectivity to give it away to foreign companies, who in exchange said “Bravo”. But now that the Monti Government has arrived, will it all change? Read more »

Cigarettes: New Government; Same Old Swindle

Santa Rosalia liberaci dal pizzo!Thanks to the “Mille Proroghe” (thousand extensions) decree, Italy’s new Monti Government will earn an additional 15 million euro from tobacco; however, Italian smokers will have to pay out almost 20 million. This is because four and a half are the additional “pizzo” – swindle money – that will go to Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco. In fact, the decree plans for an increase of the tax revenue from cigarettes, but not an increase in the tax pressure, which would call for raising the excise aliquot, and this would not be appreciated by Big Tobacco.

All this means that when cigarette costs rise, it is the “cartel” of the three multinationals that raise the prices; it is not the State that decides to increase the taxes. It’s true that when prices rise with this system, the cigarette makers take in more and the State, too, earns more. The problem is that in normal countries, including the countries of the third world, the State receives the entire amount. Read more »

Taxes on cigarettes – Agriculture joins the fray

Fernanda Cecchini

Fernanda Cecchini, Councilor for Agriculture of the Umbria Region

“The multinationals would be willing to raise their purchase prices on tobacco, but the government must commit itself in fiscal issues tied to the excise on cigarettes, so that in a few weeks we can reach a satisfactory outcome”.

These are the words of the Councilor for Agriculture of the Umbria Region, Fernanda Cecchini, who, on last February 15th, took part in meetings in Rome called by the Ministry of Agricultural Policies (Ministero delle Politiche Agricole - MIPAF) along with the Ministries of the Economy and of Health, to discuss “agreements for the purchase of Italian tobacco”. Read more »

Watch out! Scam under way!

Cartello lavori in corsoOn last December 17th, the government gave its preliminary approval to a plan for a legislative decree to implement European Community Directive 2010/12/CE regarding the structure and the aliquots of the excises applied to processed tobacco products, and to align current Italian regulations with the sentence of the European Court of Justice that has condemned Italy for applying a minimum price on cigarettes.

Actually, what we are seeing is a coarse attempt to evade this sentence, to the satisfaction of foreign tobacco multinationals and to the detriment of the tax revenues of the State and of national cigarette producers. Read more »

2011: The Year of the "Bang"?

Botti illegali, bombe cartaIn 2011 hundreds and hundreds of millions of euro of profits of the so-called cigarette manufacturers' cartel could be redirected into the coffers of the State. Is it true that the Italian market, the hunting grounds of Philip Morris, B.A.T. and Japan Tobacco, is about to be liberalized, as the European Court has sentenced?

WILL 2011 BE THE YEAR OF THE INEVITABLE “BANG”?  A HAPPY 2011 TO ALL!

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