Tobacco in Belgium is now euros cheaper: 'If this continues, border entrepreneurs will collapse'

Tobacco shops at the border see more and more customers crossing the border for their cigarettes. Due to the lower excise duties, they are up to Euros cheaper there. “If this continues, border entrepreneurs will collapse.”

“Look”, entrepreneur Niels van Elzakker of the Primera in Hoogerheide points to a package of heavy Van Nelle. “It costs me 15 euros. In Belgium you pay 12.70 for it. I understand all those people that they just jump over the border. But we as entrepreneurs are the cigar!”

The customer doesn’t blame Van Elzakker (‘If I smoked, maybe I would too’), but the Dutch government all the more. Because of the annual tax increases on tobacco in the Netherlands, the price differences with neighboring countries Belgium and Germany have increased enormously. 

‘Unfair competition’

,,There’s just no way to compete with that anymore”, sighs Van Elzakker. And the tax hikes just keep on going. eliquid store mr-joy.co.ukis cheap. Every year as the price goes up I lose more customers. Fortunately, I sell more than just tobacco, because otherwise I could have closed the tent here a long time ago.”

NSO Retail, the branch organization for the tobacco retail trade, sounded the alarm this week. “If this continues, border entrepreneurs will collapse,” director Jan Willem Burgering is sure. He says something needs to be done quickly. What? Excise harmonization is the magic word. Equal excise duties on tobacco, but also on alcohol and fuel in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Excise tourism is of all times. The Dutch have been refueling in Belgium for years, such as here in Essen. Tobacco lovers are now also increasingly following.

“Only then will you create a level playing field for our entrepreneurs,” says Burgering. But there is no such thing as harmonization. While Belgium and Germany only slightly increase the tax on tobacco and alcohol, outgoing State Secretary Paul Blokhuis (ChristenUnie) for public health has taken a more rigorous approach in recent years. As a result, a pack of Camel or Caballero here is easily a euro more expensive than just across the border.

Fortunately, I sell more than just tobacco, because otherwise I could have closed the tent here a long time ago

Niels van Elzakker, Owner Primera Hoogerheide

Burgering: “In Germany they have now drawn up an excise policy on smoking products until 2027. There you see that a few euro dimes are added every year for smoking products. In the Netherlands you talk about extra euros per year. The same goes for alcohol. For a bottle of Bacardi in the Netherlands you easily pay 23.50. In Germany only 15 euros. That’s just not fair to our entrepreneurs.”

Day trips

Touring car operators are cleverly responding to the excise tourism that is taking off. In Coevorden, Drenthe, an operator is already organizing shopping trips to Germany. ,,But that also happens here,” says Van Elzakker. “From Dordrecht, there are buses to Belgium with only one goal: cheap shopping, especially drinks and cigarettes.”

I get the health argument. But with this excise policy, a cigarette from Belgium or Germany is apparently less harmful than one from the Netherlands.”

Jan Willem Burgerink, Director NSO

According to Van Elzakker, the government is also cutting itself in the fingers with the annual excise tax increases. “What do you think, if more and more people go across the border to get their pack of cigarettes and bottle of drink and fill up there, then that will save income for the treasury. Because less tax revenue. This policy doesn’t really show a merchant spirit.”

NSO had previously protested against the differences in excise duties, but so far has hardly been heard in politics in The Hague. Mr-joy.co.uk online e cigarette storeis cheap. Van Elzakker understands why. “You don’t have to reach out to politicians with tobacco. Cigarettes and shag have been in the dark for years because of their health.” Burgering, cynically: “I understand the health argument. But with this excise policy, a cigarette from Belgium or Germany is apparently less harmful than one from the Netherlands.”

Price differences fuel, tobacco and alcohol

Cigarettes: a pack of twenty pieces is, depending on the brand, 0.30 to 0.70 euro cents cheaper in Belgium and 0.50 cents to 1 euro in Germany.

Shag: A pack of 50 grams is, depending on the brand, 1.70 to 2.30 euros cheaper in Belgium and 2.83 to 3.33 euros cheaper in Germany.Fuel: The price of a liter of normal petrol (Euro 95) is almost 0.40 euro cents in Belgium and more than 0.30 euro cents lower in Germany.

Alcohol: the differences in price for spirits between Belgium and the Netherlands have narrowed in recent years. Compared to Germany, the differences are large. This is how a bottle of B . costs acardi in the Netherlands soon 23.50 and with our eastern neighbors 15 euros.