Download PDF : 46.full
January 5th, 2013:
Australia Tobacco Tax: Price Of Cigarettes To Exceed US$20 A Pack
The Huffington Post | By Hunter Stuart Posted: 01/04/2013 7:21 pm EST
A kiosk worker looks at cigarette packets which are kept covered up by law in central Sydney on August 15, 2012. (GREG WOOD/AFP/GettyImages)
29
Australia Cigarette, Phillip Morris, Sin Tax, Australia Cigarette Logo Ban, Julia Gillard, Nanny Tax, Price Of Cigarettes, Business News
If you think cigarettes are expensive in the United States, be glad you don’t live in Australia, where the price of a pack of smokes is set to rise to above US$20, according to The Australian.
The higher price for cigarettes is the result of a rise in the tobacco tax, which government officials say they hope will not only increase revenues by billions of dollars over the next few years, but encourage smokers to kick the habit.
“Price increases encourage existing smokers to quit and raise the barrier for people considering taking up smoking, especially young people,” the government-sponsored National Tobacco Strategy reads, as The Australian notes.
This isn’t the first time the Australian government has raised taxes on tobacco, however. In 2010 it increased taxes on tobacco products by 25 percent, provoking panic among smokers, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The new tobacco tax comes in conjunction with new cigarette packaging restrictions in Australia, which forbid tobacco companies from including any branding on cigarette labels, the Guardian reports. As of Dec. 1, cigarette packages must use generic fonts and a drab olive-brown color meant to discourage consumers.
Australia’s tobacco tax isn’t the country’s only sin tax. Australia also taxes beer and alcohol, with higher taxes placed on beverages that have higher alcohol content.
Although higher tobacco taxes may reduce smoker addiction rates, at least one study has shown that such “nanny taxes,” as they are often called, sometimes place a greater burden on lower-income consumers, the Australian reports.
But the increase in the tobacco tax may not bring in the higher revenues the Australian government is hoping for.
In September, the Australian Associated Press reported that tobacco tax revenue fell by $341 million. The federal government says its anti-smoking measures likely contributed to the drop, according to the report.
THIS IS WHAT HK SHOULD BE DOING
Download PDF : Australian2013
New anti-smoking laws take effect
http://www.afr.com/p/national/new_anti_smoking_laws_take_effect_BZAOL6ruh
kgHMWS0dMgrfL
New anti-smoking laws take effect
PUBLISHED: 04 Jan 2013 13:36:54 | UPDATED: 04 Jan 2013 14:17:55
Share Links:email
print-font+font
Smokers will no longer be able to light up at many outdoor locations as
new anti-smoking laws come into effect in New South Wales on January 7.
The state government says smoking is now outlawed at locations such as
children’s playgrounds, bus and train stations, sports fields, public
pools and entrances to public buildings.
Anita Tang from the New South Wales Cancer Council says the reforms will
help protect people from toxic second-hand smoke.
She says smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths and
more than 15,000 Australians die from tobacco-related illnesses each
year.
AAP