Staff Reporter :
Several anti-tobacco organisations on Saturday urged the government to increase taxes on tobacco products in the proposed national budget for the fiscal 2018-19.
They also demanded the restructuring of the price slab for cigarettes from four levels to two.
The leaders of the organisation voiced it at a post-budget press conference titled “Tobacco taxation in the proposed budget for the 2018-19.” The conference was held in the Jatiya Press Club.
The anti-tobacco platforms including Progga, ATMA, National Heart Foundation, National Anti-Tobacco Platform and others in a press briefing also proposed to separately impose a part of the supplementary duty as specific tax on tobacco.
Nadira Kiron, Co-Convenor of Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) said the proposed tax structure for tobacco products will protect tobacco businesses.
By keeping the price slabs for cigarettes at four levels, the price and tax on the high-priced cigarettes unchanged for three consecutive fiscal years, the government is facilitating the business
expansion of the multinational tobacco companies, she alleged.
Professor of Economics Department of Dhaka University, Dr Rumana Haque, said, “The proposed budget left the existing four price slabs of cigarettes untouched. As a result, the consumers will get opportunity to switch to lower brands”
She also said, while speaking as a special guest, it would be an obstacle in achieving a tobacco-free country by 2040.
While speaking as the chief guest, economist Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said, “As the consumers of low segment cigarettes are the highest, price of the low level tobacco product should be increased to discourage them.”
The speakers asked the government to reform the four-level price slab – low, medium, high and premium- into two levels -high and low. The anti-tobacco platform placed four-point recommendations.
The first recommendation is to breake the four-segment price slabs for cigarettes into just two segments of high and low. Fixing of the price of 10 sticks of low segment cigarettes at minimum Tk 50 with a 60pc supplementary duty and the price of 10 sticks of high segment cigarettes at minimum TK 100 with a 65pc supplementary duty must be taken into consideration. And for all cases, slapping a Tk 5 specific tax on every 10 sticks of cigarettes is suggested.
The second recommendation is to abolish the filter and non-filter differentiation for Bidi and fixing the price of 30 sticks at minimum Tk 30 with a 45% supplementary duty and Tk 6 specific tax.
The third is to slap 65pc supplementary duty instead of 45pc and Tk 10 specific tax for each 10 grammes of smoke free tobacco products.
The last one is to Re-imposing the 25pc tax on exporting processed and unprocessed tobacco products and a 10pc supplementary duty at local level to discourage tobacco cultivation.
Several anti-tobacco organisations on Saturday urged the government to increase taxes on tobacco products in the proposed national budget for the fiscal 2018-19.
They also demanded the restructuring of the price slab for cigarettes from four levels to two.
The leaders of the organisation voiced it at a post-budget press conference titled “Tobacco taxation in the proposed budget for the 2018-19.” The conference was held in the Jatiya Press Club.
The anti-tobacco platforms including Progga, ATMA, National Heart Foundation, National Anti-Tobacco Platform and others in a press briefing also proposed to separately impose a part of the supplementary duty as specific tax on tobacco.
Nadira Kiron, Co-Convenor of Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) said the proposed tax structure for tobacco products will protect tobacco businesses.
By keeping the price slabs for cigarettes at four levels, the price and tax on the high-priced cigarettes unchanged for three consecutive fiscal years, the government is facilitating the business
expansion of the multinational tobacco companies, she alleged.
Professor of Economics Department of Dhaka University, Dr Rumana Haque, said, “The proposed budget left the existing four price slabs of cigarettes untouched. As a result, the consumers will get opportunity to switch to lower brands”
She also said, while speaking as a special guest, it would be an obstacle in achieving a tobacco-free country by 2040.
While speaking as the chief guest, economist Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said, “As the consumers of low segment cigarettes are the highest, price of the low level tobacco product should be increased to discourage them.”
The speakers asked the government to reform the four-level price slab – low, medium, high and premium- into two levels -high and low. The anti-tobacco platform placed four-point recommendations.
The first recommendation is to breake the four-segment price slabs for cigarettes into just two segments of high and low. Fixing of the price of 10 sticks of low segment cigarettes at minimum Tk 50 with a 60pc supplementary duty and the price of 10 sticks of high segment cigarettes at minimum TK 100 with a 65pc supplementary duty must be taken into consideration. And for all cases, slapping a Tk 5 specific tax on every 10 sticks of cigarettes is suggested.
The second recommendation is to abolish the filter and non-filter differentiation for Bidi and fixing the price of 30 sticks at minimum Tk 30 with a 45% supplementary duty and Tk 6 specific tax.
The third is to slap 65pc supplementary duty instead of 45pc and Tk 10 specific tax for each 10 grammes of smoke free tobacco products.
The last one is to Re-imposing the 25pc tax on exporting processed and unprocessed tobacco products and a 10pc supplementary duty at local level to discourage tobacco cultivation.
