No smoking: Raise taxes on tobacco, urge experts
“Adopting a uniform specific excise tax of Rs31.2 per pack will lead to over half a million current cigarette smokers to quit and prevent almost 725,000 Pakistani youth from taking up cigarette smoking”, the experts added. PHOTO: FILE
Experts have urged the government to adopt a high uniform cigarette excise tax to discourage tobacco use and increase revenue collection.
Addressing a report-launching ceremony, experts said that the most effective way to reduce tobacco use is to raise its price through tax increases. They said higher prices discourage the youth from taking up the habit of smoking and encourage current smokers to quit.
“Adopting a uniform specific excise tax of Rs31.2 per pack will lead to over half a million current cigarette smokers to quit and prevent almost 725,000 Pakistani youth from taking up cigarette smoking”, the experts added. They said that reduction in smoking will prevent over 550,000 deaths caused by tobacco use and at the same time the increase in tax would generate over Rs27 billion in revenues.
The report ‘Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Taxation in Pakistan’ launched by Coalition for Tobacco Control (CTC) presented its recommendation for the government for curbing tobacco use in the country.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 28th, 2014.