According to Tobacco Reporter, Indonesia’s government is conducting an in-depth review of its cigarette excise system following allegations of forgery and manipulation, Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said after a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto.

Portugal has become the latest EU member state to officially oppose the European Commission’s proposed reforms to the Tobacco Excise Tax Directive (TED) – especially the one calling for a sharp increase in minimum tax rates. According to Portugal, this will drive consumers to the illicit market, reports The European Business Review.

Amid sweeping efforts by President Milei’s government to reform Argentina’s tax administration, the country’s tobacco tax stamp programme is an important step towards such reform. While the programme has helped Argentina’s tax authority reconcile production volumes with the number of products actually sold and taxes paid, there is an ongoing price disparity in the market, between manufacturers and resellers, that is ultimately resulting in less tax going to the government.

Tax stamps have been around since the late 17th century and were originally embossed or impressed on products or documents. Today, they have evolved from simple adhesive labels into sophisticated tools that play a crucial role in revenue protection and tax compliance.

While we are used to seeing informative and dynamic presentations of banknote designs and security features on central bank websites, imagine our surprise when we came across a presentation of tobacco authentication labels on the Swedish Public Health Agency site!

Following the UK’s decision to introduce a new excise duty on vaping products in 2026, the government has announced it will be implementing tax stamps on vapes, to accompany this new duty. At the same time, it has advised that a track and trace system will not be introduced on vapes, even though such a system is applied to traditional tobacco products in the UK.

Between January and August this year, Gambia Revenue Authority (GRA) collected GMD 48,470,427.78 ($702,000) in excise duties, compared to just GMD 6,312,608.78 ($91,000) the previous year. This significant increase represents more than 800% of the country’s total excise revenue mobilisation.

In a recent website article, the Peter G Peterson Foundation, a US nonprofit organisation for building a sustainable fiscal path, took a look at excise taxes in the US and how they fit into the federal budget.

Recently, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Tabaconomía, a tobacco control think-tank that is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies, held a webinar to discuss the status of tobacco taxation post-COVID-19.

As a large number of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ readers are already aware, tobacco and alcohol producers spend significant amounts of time and effort lobbying against the installation of tax stamp and traceability systems that are fully managed by national revenue authorities.