BIR raises floor price for cigarettes, vape products

THE Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) said it increased the floor price for cigarettes and vape products.

In a revenue regulation released on July 18, the BIR updated the floor prices for cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vaporized nicotine products.

The BIR last issued floor prices in September.

According to the National Tax Research Center, the minimum retail price set by the BIR takes into account an estimate of the excise tax and value-added tax to be paid, plus a reasonable production cost.

The BIR said the new floor price for a pack of cigarettes is now P85.57, up from P78.58. The production cost assumption for cigarettes was also raised to P10.25 per pack from P7.16.

For each ream, the floor price was set at P855.68 from P785.80 previously, with the production cost estimate surging to P102.50 from P71.60.

The floor price for heated tobacco products per 20-piece pack was raised to P61.47 from P60.11. The production cost assumption fell to P19.04 from P19.54 in September.

Meanwhile, the BIR set a P353.18 floor price for two milliliter (ml) pods of nicotine, against P180.67 earlier, with the production cost assumption rising to P200.68 from P52.11 earlier.

Meanwhile, the floor price for disposable pods was reset to P183.31, for prefilled pods to P174.89 and for disposable devices to P98.18. All these products have content of 10 ml.

The BIR collected excise taxes on tobacco products was P58.97 billion in the first half, up 34.16% year on year.

Collections for vapor products rose 738.09% to P1.50 billion during the period.

“These Regulations shall take effect fifteen (15) days following the publication thereof in the Official Gazette or the BIR’s official website, whichever comes first,” according to the revenue regulations. — Aubrey Rose A. Inosante