AFP, Canberra :
Smokers in Australia could pay approximately Aus$40 (US$30) for a pack of cigarettes from 2020, under revenue-boosting budget measures announced Tuesday.
The cost of cigarettes will rise 12.5 percent every year, starting from 2017, with a packet currently costing around Aus$25, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Finance minister Scott Morrison told parliament that an increase in cigarette excise would raise Aus$4.7 billion over the next four years.
A further crackdown on firms avoiding tax, another key part of the budget, is forecast to raise Aus$3.9 billion over the next four years when combined with a broader tax avoidance package.
But the budget also aimed to shore up economic growth amid a rocky transition from dependence on mining, doling out tax cuts for individuals and businesses.
With an eye on national polls expected in July, which are shaping up as close, Morrison said the new revenue would not be banked by the ruling Liberal-National coalition if it stayed in office, but used to fund the tax cuts.
Smokers in Australia could pay approximately Aus$40 (US$30) for a pack of cigarettes from 2020, under revenue-boosting budget measures announced Tuesday.
The cost of cigarettes will rise 12.5 percent every year, starting from 2017, with a packet currently costing around Aus$25, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Finance minister Scott Morrison told parliament that an increase in cigarette excise would raise Aus$4.7 billion over the next four years.
A further crackdown on firms avoiding tax, another key part of the budget, is forecast to raise Aus$3.9 billion over the next four years when combined with a broader tax avoidance package.
But the budget also aimed to shore up economic growth amid a rocky transition from dependence on mining, doling out tax cuts for individuals and businesses.
With an eye on national polls expected in July, which are shaping up as close, Morrison said the new revenue would not be banked by the ruling Liberal-National coalition if it stayed in office, but used to fund the tax cuts.
