ATHENS:The Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Stated “that the government to stamping out fuel and cigarette fraud is one of his priority reform, with the state losing an estimated €1.5 a year in petrol tax alone, and between €500 and €600 a year million in lost revenue on tobacco”.
Almost every country of Europe has a problem with cigarette smuggling but Greece which has the highest proportion of smokers of any developed country. It is rising since the Greece’s economy sank into crisis.
More than one cigarette in five smoked in Greece last year was smuggled, compared with only three percent in 2009 when the crisis that has devastated the Greek economy first struck. But with the price of cigarettes rocketing, and cash-strapped governments raising taxes on them five times in as many years, said Nielsen Research Company. Loannis Michaletos a researcher advised that the only way of countering smuggling is to cut tax on cigarettes.
