Philippines Recognized for Tobacco Tax Policy

The Philippines scored highest among its Association of Southeast Asian Nations peers in a study that rated cigarette tax policy performance from 2012 to 2018, reports The Manila Times.

After evaluating cigarette taxation in more than 170 countries, the authors of the Tobacconomics Cigarette Tax Scorecard study said the Philippines was among the countries “with the greatest improvement in cigarette tax policy,” resulting from “the simplification of previously complicated tiered cigarette excise tax structures, accompanied by large tax increases.”

During the studied period, the Philippines eliminated the multi-tiered structure of the previous system, removed price classification fees and introduced automatic indexation, according to Finance Assistant Secretary Teresa Habitan. It also increased taxes on tobacco products and mandated an across-the-board uniform tax rate of PHP30 ($0.62) per pack beginning 2017.

The study used data from the World Health Organization and focused on four aspects of cigarette tax systems: cigarette prices, changes in cigarette affordability over time, share of taxes in retail cigarette prices and cigarette tax structure.

The Tobacconomics Scorecard’s five-point grading system is derived from the data in the tax/price-related appendices of the biennial WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic.

The WHO report monitors the most effective and cost-effective government interventions—both price and nonprice measures—for reducing tobacco consumption.