DHAKA, March 29, 2020 (BSS) – The Anti Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) today 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 today 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.
The ATMA in its proposal said the additional revenues generated may help the government to recover losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
To curb the prevalence of tobacco at a much faster rate and to realize the vision for a tobacco-free Bangladesh by 2040 as declared by the Prime Minister, ATMA urged the NBR to incorporate such proposals into the national budget for fiscal year 2020-21.
The ATMA mentioned that the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently informed that lungs hooked on tobacco are at greater risk of COVID-19.
In Bangladesh, 37.8 million adults use tobacco and 41 million people fall victim to secondhand smoke in their own homes. This huge chunk of population, victims of direct or indirect tobacco use, are currently at grave risk of severe coronavirus infection.
It said the widespread availability has pushed this group to such tragic level of vulnerability. For years, a flawed taxation structure, particularly the 4-tier pricing system in cigarettes and the scope for purchasing tobacco products at very cheap prices have barred all the tobacco tax and price measures taken by the government from having desired effect, rendering them virtually ineffective.
The ATMA said increasing tobacco prices and taxes is safeguarding public health since such move discourages the youth from developing the habit of tobacco use and also effectively encourages the current users, particularly the poor, to quit.