Czechs Flock to Poland for Cheaper Cigarettes Amid Tax Hike

The price difference for cigarettes between the Czech Republic and Poland has reached a historic record following the recent increase in consumption tax.

For more expensive brands, it’s already approaching fifty crowns per pack, Novinky.cz reports.

For instance, a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in Poland costs 102 crowns in conversion from złoty, while in the Czech Republic, it’s 145 crowns. Sellers in Polish border towns claim that 90% of customers are currently Czech.

As of February 1st, the increase in consumption tax for cigarettes, smoking tobacco, and cigars is ten percent.

“We can say that 90 percent of the customers who buy cigarettes here are from the Czech Republic. And the number is growing,” smiles Agnieszka, a worker at a small shop in the Polish village of Chalupki, less than ten minutes by car from nearby Bohumín.

The rise in retail prices will be reflected in the coming weeks as retailers sell off old stock. Over the next three years, tariffs on these products will increase by five percent annually.

The new consumption tax on electronic cigarettes will be introduced on April 1st, 2024, with a rate of 2.50 per milliliter in 2024 and rising to 10 crowns per milliliter by 2027.

A new excise duty on electronic cigarettes will be introduced from 1 April 2024, at a rate of 2.50 per millilitre in 2024, rising to C10 per millilitre by 2027.