Higher taxes on cigarettes are leaving both consumers and traders on edge, Hani Mohsen finds out The People's Assembly Planning and Budget Committee last week agreed to raise taxes on cigarettes and maassal -- the tobacco in sheesha, or water pipes -- to cover increased provisions contained in the draft general state budget for the financial year 2010/2011. The new taxation plan created uproar amongst smokers, echoed loudly in the press. "Taxation is the easiest measure the government can take to fix its financial crises and its general budget deficit," commented writer Ibrahim Mansour in an article in the daily Al-Dostour. "They couldn't care less about the poor people who barely make enough to live on and have nothing to ease the daily pressure but cigarettes." The committee decided to raise sales taxes on cigarettes by 40 per cent and on maassal by 100 per cent. "They increased the price of meat, so we stopped eating it and we started to smoke just to ease our hungry stomachs. Now they are increasing the price of cigarettes too. I'm afraid to breathe in case they decide to tax the air," said Mohamed, an angry bus driver from Al-Daher district in Cairo. Even though the new taxation will not be enforced before July, wholesalers have already started decreasing their supplies and asking the new prices. "They are forcing us to buy at the increased prices," said Emad, owner of a cigarette booth in the Shubra district. "I know other kiosk owners who have been forced to buy their supplies with double the price increase." "If I have to pay LE14 per day just to buy cigarettes, this means that I'll have to pay LE420 monthly. What does that leave me?" exclaimed Mina, a 36- year-old employee. "I had to change the brand I'm used to smoking. I found a kiosk that sells at the old prices and I'm starting to stock my own supply," says Karim, a citizen from Al-Zeitoun district. "When my stock runs out, I'll have to buy with the new prices, what can I do?" Nabil Abdel-Aziz, chairman of the Eastern Company that holds a monopoly on the production and sale of cigarettes in Egypt, believes that sales will not be affected by the new pricing, especially of luxurious imported brands. "Consumers of imported cigarette brands have the ability to afford the increase," he said. Ahmed, a 28-year-old employee, concurs: "It's a harsh increase, but I'll handle it; cigarettes are like bread and water to me."
