Taxes reflect risk

Malaysia’s Customs Department is considering the tax status of heat-not-burn products, according to a story in The Sun Daily.
“We are still studying this as the product is new,” the Department’s director-general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy was quoted as saying.
The director-general was responding to a query from the Sun Daily as to whether IQOS should be subject to tax in line with the Government’s aim of reducing tobacco consumption.
“There is already excise duty on the tobacco. As for the device, it is an issue of classification.”
“That device is an electronic gadget,” he said. “Classification of a product is something international and we will need to consult the World Customs Organization and other countries.
“However, we are open to the idea and will further study this.”
The Sun said that IQOS retailed mainly in vape stores and upmarket tobacco dealers, at between RM260 and RM600, depending on what accessories were included.
The IQOs device’s Heets tobacco sticks, which were also available at gas filling stations and convenience stores, retailed for RM14.00 for a pack of 20. A pack of premium combustible cigarettes sold at RM17.40.
The excise duty on each stick of Heets, about 24 sen, was about 40 percent lower than that on a regular cigarette, 40 sen.