Cigarette Tax Structure Needs Overhaul
The existing four price tiers in cigarettes (low, medium, high and premium) has rendered tobacco price and tax measures less effective. Particularly, the very narrow price difference between low and medium tier cigarettes allows consumers to choose brands belonging to any of these two tiers. To discourage the poor and the youth from lighting up and to hike the government's revenue inflow, this glaring loophole can be plugged in the upcoming FY 2025-26 national budget by merging low and medium price tiers into one and reducing the number of price tiers to three.
Speakers said these at a journalists' workshop titled "Tobacco Tax and Price Measures: Budget FY 2025-26" that took place at BIP Conference Room of the Capital on 12 and13 March 2025. The two workshops, organized jointly by PROGGA ...