The article analyses the experience of reforming the excise duty on tobacco products in Moldova in order to build an information base of how innovations in taxation have been integrated abroad and how this experience is taken into account when making administrative decisions in Ukraine. Moldova has implemented a somewhat radical fiscally oriented excise policy, and its excise duty reform for certain types of tobacco products has often been ambiguous in terms of ensuring compliance with EU standards and attaining the claimed objectives. Up to 2020, the country had diverging excise duty rates for filter and non-filter cigarettes and minimum retail prices for these products, a practice that was contrary to the requirements of European harmonized excise duty accrual. In Moldova, the excise duty on heated tobacco products, which are potentially less harmful to human health, is set at the minimum excise duty for cigarettes, but e-cigarette liquids are subject to no excise taxation at all. The Moldovan excise duty on fine-cut tobacco is greater than 160% of the excise duty on cigarettes, but the steep rise in excise taxes has left cigars, cigarillos and other smoking tobacco unaffected. The country still has a room to increase the sales of certain types of tobacco products that will be in demand among smokers for their low cost, while paying rather modest excise duties. In conclusion, Moldova's experience in tobacco excise duty reform is controversial. None of the “taxation know-how” initiatives in Moldova can be called a success and cannot be recommended as an example for Ukraine to follow. Rather, Moldova's excise policy should be considered as an example of introducing ambiguous measures in order to hedge itself from making any glaring mistakes.
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