Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 16
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
The government of Azerbaijan plans to raise the rates of excise tax on the import of tobacco products and alcoholic drinks starting from 2018, a source in the government told Trend Oct. 16.
The government’s plan was announced last week when the Chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee Aydin Aliyev explained this decision by the fact that the country has a sufficient number of producers of tobacco and alcohol products. However, Aliyev did not specify how much the government plans to raise the excise tax rates.
The source told Trend that the government has already reached agreement on increasing the excise tax rates by two times for alcoholic drinks and for tobacco products – by more than two times.
The source added that after changing the exchange rate of Azerbaijan’s national currency, importers again switched to paying customs taxes and duties on imported goods in US dollars.
“Initially, the customs authority conducted settlements with importers in US dollars, but later it switched to settlements in national currency. Currently, the calculations are again conducted in foreign currency,” said the source.
Currently, tobacco products and alcoholic drinks are the only goods, on which the excise tax is planned to be raised, noted the source.