Income from tobacco taxes has plunged and coalition partner BBB is again calling for a rethink, according to broadcaster RTL Nieuws.

In total, tax income is set to be €500 million below estimates, even less than was forecast at the presentation of the 2025 budget in September, RTL said. A pack of 20 cigarettes now costs around €11, of which €7.80 is down to tax.

Government research published in June shows that some 25% of empty cigarettes packets thrown away as litter originated abroad, where tobacco products are cheaper.

Research by the public health institute RIVM also indicates that smokers buy around 10% of their tobacco abroad, by either importing it themselves or asking others to do so.

BBB parliamentarian Henk Vermeer has now again called for the tax increases to be reversed. “These figures support what I said earlier,” he said. “The only thing being reduced is government tax income, not the number of smokers.”

The finance ministry admits that tobacco tax income is now down by around €500 million but has not yet established the reasoning, RTL said.

Carla van Gils from cancer charity KWF Kankerbestrijding told RTL the tax on tobacco is to stop youngsters picking up the habit, not to raise money for the treasury. Making cigarettes more expensive is very important and it works,” she said. “There is plenty of scientific evidence for this.”

The situation is similar in Belgium, where tobacco tax income has fallen sharply, which the government has blamed on illegal cigarettes and imports from Eastern Europe. In Luxembourg, where the taxes are lower, cigarette sales have increased 6% this year, RTL said.