Victoria Belous
According to Finance Minister Victoria Belous, the government plans to raise approximately 600 million lei from the gambling tax, while an increase in cigarette excise taxes could bring in an additional 1 billion lei to the budget.
“The amount of budget revenue will be equivalent to the increase in teachers’ salaries,” Victoria Belous said on Radio Moldova.
Authorities note that the proposed measures are intended not only to increase budget revenues but also to reduce consumption of products associated with harmful habits. In the case of tobacco products, the excise tax increase is also intended to bring rates closer to those of other countries in the region. According to the government, this could make smuggling less attractive.
According to the minister, the proposed measures are expected to have both economic and social effects: on the one hand, to increase budget revenues, and on the other, to reduce consumption of products associated with harmful habits and to channel the resulting funds toward reforming the public sector’s wage system.
“We consider this measure to be balanced. It achieves both economic and social goals, since citizens will spend less on harmful habits, and on the other hand, we hope to support public sector wage reform,” said Victoria Belous.
As a reminder, the draft tax policy for 2027 calls for a 20% increase in excise taxes on traditional tobacco products and a 50% increase on vaping products. In addition, a 6% tax on gambling is proposed—this would be the first tax of its kind in the Republic of Moldova. Earlier, Prime Minister Vasile Tofan stated that Moldovans spend up to 10 billion lei annually on gambling.
