Phased increase in tobacco duty
Act amending the annex to the Tobacco Excise Duty Act
Taxation on tobacco products will be increased in four stages in 2016 and 2017. As a result of the increases, retail prices for cigarettes and rolling tobacco will rise gradually.
- Status
- Passed
- Submitted
- 28 Sep 2015
- Latest event
- 7 Dec 2015
- Votes
- 1
- Speeches
- 19
- Confirmed
- 17 Dec 2015
- Statute
- 1497/2015
- Source
- eduskunta.fi ↗
What is proposed
The tax on cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipe and cigarette tobacco, and rolling tobacco will be increased by an average of 24 per cent. The increases mainly target the unit tax and minimum tax on tobacco products, and they will be implemented in four half-yearly steps between 1 January 2016 and 1 July 2017.
What it means
The tax increase will raise the price of a 20-cigarette pack by a total of around 1.12–1.14 euros and the price of a pouch of rolling tobacco by around 1.04 euros by 2017. The change will increase central government tax revenues in full by around 135 million euros per year by 2018, and domestic taxed consumption is estimated to fall by just under eight per cent.
How Parliament voted
The act ultimately passed without a vote: no MP proposed rejecting it in the final reading. The only vote concerned a detail of the act.
Lain liitteenä oleva verotaulukko, mietintö / Antero Laukkanen
Yes won by 164–5.
Only the Christian Democrats against. 30 MPs were absent. Minutes ↗
Filled dot = yes, ring = no, grey = absent. The seating plan at the time of this vote is not archived, so MPs are grouped by party in indicative seats.
A passed act does not enter into force immediately: the President of the Republic confirms it, and it enters into force on the date set in the act. This act was confirmed on 17 Dec 2015.
Debate in the chamber
What was argued and where each group stood, followed by MPs' speeches verbatim from the parliamentary record. Speeches are shown in their original language.
19 speeches · 2 debates
Key points of the debate
The debate addressed the phased increase in tobacco duty over two years. The proposal received broad support across government and opposition lines both to increase state revenue and to reduce health harms. Disagreements arose mainly over the schedule of the increases, smuggling risks, and the regulation of electronic cigarettes.
- Should tobacco duty be increased gradually or all at once on a faster schedule?
- Should a tax equivalent to tobacco products be imposed on electronic cigarettes?
- Will the tax increases excessively increase illegal imports and smuggling?
- National Coalition PartyIn favour
The National Coalition Party strongly supported tightening tobacco duty for both fiscal and public health reasons. The gradual increase was seen as an effective way to reduce consumption and prevent young people from starting smoking.
”On erinomainen asia, että tupakan verotusta kiristetään, kiristetään, sanotaan nyt sitten, tuntuvastikin.”
— Ben Zyskowicz - Finns PartyIn favour
The Finns Party supported the proposal to strengthen central government finances and prevent harms. The group stressed the importance of the phased model so that illegal imports and the shadow economy do not grow exponentially.
”hallituksen esitys tästä tupakkaveron vaiheittaisesta korotuksesta seuraavien kahden vuoden aikana on mielestäni erittäin perusteltu.”
— Sami Savio - Social DemocratsIn favour
The Social Democrats gave their support to the proposal, as raising excise duties on health-harming products brings in necessary tax revenue and prevents health problems particularly among young people.
”Silloin, kun hallitus tekee hyviä esityksiä, niitä on syytä totta kai tukea.”
— Maarit Feldt-Ranta - Christian DemocratsIn favour with reservations
The Christian Democrats supported the tax increase for health reasons, but proposed implementing the increases all at once on a faster schedule and extending the tax to electronic cigarettes as well.
”Kristillisdemokraatit tukee hallituksen esitystä tupakkaveron korotukseksi mutta ehdottaa, että korotukset tehtäisiin nopeammalla aikataululla.”
— Sari Tanus
This digest was generated by AI from 19 speeches 13 Sep 2026. Group positions are read from the speeches, not from votes; quotations were checked verbatim against the record.
Keskustelu pöydällepanosta päättyi. Asia pantiin pöydälle 13.10.2015 pidettävään täysistuntoon.
Yleiskeskustelu päättyi ja asian käsittely keskeytettiin.
Stages of consideration
The bill's path from the preliminary debate to the decision, as recorded by Parliament.
- 28 Sep 2015Eduskuntakäsittelyn vireilletulo · Valtiovarainministeriö
- 13 Oct 2015Lähetekeskustelu · Täysistunto
- 23 Nov 2015Valiokunnan mietintö tai lausunto · valtiovarainvaliokunta
- 27 Nov 2015Ensimmäinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 1 Dec 2015Toinen käsittely · Täysistunto
- 4 Dec 2015Eduskunnan vastaus ja kirjelmä
Decisions by law proposal1
- 1Laki tupakkaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisestaHyväksytty · 1497/2015 · 17 Dec 2015
Proposed law text
The law proposals in the bill as the Government presented them. The final act may differ after committee consideration.
The law text is shown in Finnish or Swedish from Parliament's official documents; it is not translated into English.
Laki tupakkaverosta annetun lain liitteen muuttamisesta
Eduskunnan päätöksen mukaisesti muutetaan tupakkaverosta annetun lain (1470/1994) liite, sellaisena kuin se on laissa 977/2014, seuraavasti:
§
Tämä laki tulee voimaan päivänä kuuta 20 .
Main content of the bill (official)
The summary and title were produced with AI on 2 Sep 2026. They are not official documents – check the details in the original bill. The title and summaries are machine translations of the Finnish AI summaries. Speeches and quotations are always shown in their original language.