Minimum tax rates for cigarettes in the European Union, 2004–2018
| Date | Minimum rate | Exemption | Directive | Transition periods |
| Until July 2006 | €60 per 1000 cigarettes and 57% of the retail selling price for cigarettes of the price category most in demand. | Member States which levy at least €95 per 1000 cigarettes. | 2002/10/EC | Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia could postpone the application of the minimum excise duties until 31 December 2009. Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania, which joined the EU after 2006, never met those requirements. |
| From July 2006 to February 2010 | €64 per 1000 cigarettes and 57% of the retail selling price for cigarettes of the price category most in demand. | Member States which levy at least €101 per 1000 cigarettes. | 2002/10/EC | |
| From February 2010 to January 2014 | €64 per 1000 cigarettes and 57% of the weighted average retail selling price. | Member States which levy at least €101 per 1000 cigarettes. | 2010/12/EU 2011/64/EU | Croatia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Romania could postpone the application of the minimum excise duties until 31 December 2017. |
| From January 2014 | €90 per 1000 cigarettes and 60% of the weighted average retail selling price. | Member States that levy at least €115 per 1000 cigarettes. | 2011/64/EU |