Sin Taxes Hiked

"In principle we are aware that the old costs did not conform to reality. We also understand the Mint's desire (the Mint is the official producer of excise stamps - Ya. M.) to maintain profitability. However, we are not sure about the reaction of wholesalers and retailers," The Day was told by a Philip Morris spokesman.

An anonymous source states that "raising stamp costs will, of course, affect sales prices, but this is peanuts compared to the burden of taxes and duties shaping today's costs." The said source also does not rule out the possibility of a panic and soaring prices in the wholesale/retail networks.

Remarkably, the Cabinet attributes the February stamp cost rise to the inflation process after 1995, that the Tax Administration has allegedly complained for several years about the stamp cost being lower than its par value. The strange thing is that it took the government until February 1999 to respond to these grievances... Now, by the laws of logic, the Cabinet should turn its attention to grievances from citizens that have been pouring in for years on end, namely about their wages being long way behind current living costs. Well, there is a difference between ordinary citizens and the Tax Administration. Considering that TA's complaint was heeded four years later, one can only wonder how long it will take to hear what the man in the street has to say.