Tax reduction mulled

Thailand’s finance ministry wants to reduce the tobacco excise tax by one-fourth to lessen the burden on farmers after the previous government hiked the tax from THB0.005 ($0.0016) to THB0.01 per gram, reports The Bangkok Post.

However, Deputy Finance Minister Santi Prompat said it was unlikely that the tax would be rescinded altogether.

“Even though the tobacco tax is not a significant portion of the government’s tax revenue, revoking the levy is unlikely as Thailand is committed to protecting people from secondhand smoke under international health regulations,” he said.

The previous government approved hiking the excise tax on tobacco to 10 satang per gram from 0.5 satang to narrow the retail price gap between factory-made and hand-rolled cigarettes after dozens of smokers switched to hand-rolled. The prices for hand-rolled are far cheaper than factory-made cigarettes following enforcement of a new excise tax structure in September 2017.