Starting with this year, a pack of cigarettes can no longer be sold at a price lower than 38.5 lei. The sale of cigarettes below the reference price will be punished with fines, IPN reports, with reference to the State Tax Service.

Under the Tax Code, the reference price (per packet) represents the value resulting from multiplying the minimum excise duty rate for the reference year for the volume in natural expression (1,000 pieces) by the 1.46 coefficient, multiplied by the number of cigarettes in the pack and divided by 1,000. For 2024, the minimum excise duty rate for 1,000 units of cigarettes or cigarillos is 1,318.62 lei, so that the reference price for a packet containing 20 units of the mentioned product is 38.5 lei.

“We draw attention to the fact that any person is banned from selling cigarettes and cigarillos at a price lower than the reference price – 38.5 lei. Also, the violation of this provision is punishable by fine,” the State Tax Service said.

The fine varies between 30% and 50% of the value of cigarettes or cigarillos in stock at the time of inspection, starting from the reference price.