German coalition politicians are pushing for higher tobacco taxes to relieve the country’s loss-making statutory health insurance system, saying rising prices would curb smoking and generate needed revenue.
Hendrik Streeck told Bild that tobacco consumption claims “around 131,000 lives every year” in Germany and leads to “over €30 billion in direct health costs” as well as “almost €70 billion in economic consequences”.
He said higher taxation remains “one of the most effective tools for protecting public health”.
Hans Theiss, another conservative lawmaker from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU/CSU alliance, said increased tobacco taxes could fund a cut in VAT on medicines from 19% to 7%.
“Through the VAT reduction, the insurance funds would have up to €7 billion more available annually,” he said, adding that the shift would help ease long-term financial pressure.
Karl Lauterbach of the Social Democrats also backed the proposal and said taxes on alcohol should rise too. “A tax increase would reduce consumption,” he told the newspaper.
He added that extra revenue could be directed into the health system “to relieve statutory health insurance funds”.
Under the proposal, the average price of a 20-pack of cigarettes would rise from roughly €9 to about €11.
The current tobacco tax on a standard pack stands at approximately €3.60.
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The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority. The airport remains closed until further notice.
One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a new attack Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Houthis that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
Yemen's Houthis renewed warning to airlines, airport workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously and that the kingdom “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”, a day after an attack on Riyadh's international airport that killed 12 people.
The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
Ukraine is ready to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries if Moscow also halts strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
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The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
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