ARCHIVED - Spanish government considers raising cigarette taxes but reducing taxes on vet services

VAT could be reduced on feminine hygiene products and veterinary services

Indications are beginning to emerge of possible reforms to the taxation system in Spain with regard to those levied on different kinds of products, with the likelihood appearing to be that the government led by the PSOE and Unidas Podemos parties is contemplating a significant increase in the special tax on tobacco and cigarettes.

Also in line for higher taxes are gaming salons, while on the other hand the indications are that the rate of VAT on female hygiene products and veterinary services could be brought down.

Any increase in the tax on cigarettes will probably come via the “special” taxes imposed on tobacco, since they are already subject to the maximum rate of VAT. While the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes in this country is currently around 5 euros, in France and other western EU countries it is around double that amount (and the cost of a pouch of rolling tobacco in Paris reaches 17 euros!), suggesting that the government has plenty of margin to increase the taxes in such a way as to encourage people to kick the habit.

According to Unidas Podemos MP Txema Guijarro, the proposals to reduce VAT on certain produces include dropping the rate for feminine hygiene products such as tampons from 10 to 4 per cent, and reducing IVA on veterinary services from 21 per cent to 10 per cent.

But it is the measures to discourage smoking which are attracting most attention in the Spanish press, coinciding as they do with statements made by Salvador Illa, the Minister for Health. Sr Illa explains that the government is to take up the cudgels against smoking again and is considering not only making the habit more expensive, but also extending bans on smoking to more public spaces including sports events and extending the ban to include alternatives which have developed recently such as vaping.

In addition, the controversial issue of potentially banning people from smoking in their own cars is being studied again, although this idea looks likely to prosper only if it is limited to cases in which children are passengers, if at all.

Medical opinion on smoking is clear, but it is very difficult to legislate against, as was made clear by the weight of public opinion a couple of years ago when doctors proposed legislating against lighting up at bus stops!

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