Economic Reporter :
The Anti Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) on Sunday urged the government to introduce specific taxes and two-tier pricing system in cigarettes instead of the existing four-tier system in the next national budget for FY21.
Demanding hike in tobacco taxes and prices in the upcoming national budget, ATMA on Sunday submitted its proposal for the national budget of FY 2020-21 to the National Board of Revenue (NBR).
In line with the decisions made by the NBR, the budget proposals this year were sent via e-mail. The proposals are bringing the number of price slabs down to two (low and high) from four.
It proposed to merge the 37+ and 63+ Taka tiers under low tier and the minimum retail price for 10 sticks should be Taka 65. A supplementary duty of 50 percent and 10-Taka specific tax should be added in low-tier.
The ATMA also proposed to merge the 93+ and 123+ Taka tiers under premium tier and the minimum retail price for 10 sticks should be Taka 125. A supplementary duty of 50 percent and 19-Taka specific tax should be added in premium tier.
It also proposed for elimination of price distinction between filter and non-filter bidis and in reading the price of smokeless tobacco (SLTs).
In bidi, the proposal said the price for 25 filtered sticks should be Taka 40, which will be followed by a supplementary tax of 45 percent and a 6.85-Taka specific tax.
For 20 filtered bidi sticks, the price should be Taka 32, followed by a supplementary tax of 45 percent and a 5.48-Taka specific tax.
For SLT products, the price per 10 gram jarda and gul should be Taka 40 and 23 respectively. A supplementary duty of 45 percent will be applied in both cases. A specific tax amounting Taka 5.71 and 3.45 will be added for jarda and gul.
The ATMA also proposed a 15-percent VAT to be applied for all tobacco products.
“If the proposals are implemented, it will encourage nearly 2 million current adult smokers to quit. Such move will prevent 6 lac premature deaths in the long run and raise additional revenues up to BDT 10,000 crores for the government.” it said.
