From 9 October, smokers will once again have to dig deeper.

Old habits die hard

The excise duty on a packet of 20 cigarettes is being increased by 50 cents with a pro-rata increase on other tobacco products. This will bring the price of cigarettes in the most popular price category to €13.50. These changes take effect from 9 October 2019 and are expected to raise €57.1 million for the Exchequer in a full year.

But you can still enjoy your glass of prosecco or craft beer (responsibly) safe in the knowledge that these won’t cost you anymore from a tax or excise point of view.

As the craft beer revolution continues, the production ceiling (the quantity of beer brewed in the previous year) to qualify for microbrewery relief is also being increased from 40,000 to 50,000 hectolitres.

This measure is aimed at enabling larger microbreweries to expand especially in the area of export sales. However, the maximum quantity of beer on which relief will be allowed, for any brewery in any calendar year, remains unchanged at 30,000 hectolitres.

Fancy a flutter?

The Minister announced a relief from betting duty and betting intermediary duty up to a limit of €50,000 per calendar year. However, this relief will only apply to single undertakings and not chain businesses in the gambling sector.

Fuel excise

Fuel excise duty remains unchanged though the additional €6 carbon tax per tonne will result in higher prices at the pumps from 9 October – fill those tanks up now.