Tag: tobacco taxes

  • Wholesaler Indicted in Fraud Scheme

    Wholesaler Indicted in Fraud Scheme

    Credit: Postmodern Studio

    A federal grand jury has indicted the owner of a licensed tobacco wholesale business in Connecticut in connection with a tax fraud scheme.

    A 10-count indictment by a New Haven grand jury charged Khawar M. Khokar, 35, with one count of conspiracy, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years; eight counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum prison term of 20 years; and one count of engaging in an illegal monetary transaction, an offense which carries a maximum 10-year term, according to Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

    The indictment was returned on May 15. Khokhar appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish in Hartford, pleaded not guilty, and was released on a $100,000 bond, Avery said, according to media reports.

    According to the indictment and statements made in court, Khokhar operated Smokin’ Wholesale LLC, a Connecticut-licensed tobacco wholesale business that acquired smokeless tobacco and other tobacco products from out-of-state distributors, including businesses in Pennsylvania and Illinois, and sold the products to retail merchants in Connecticut.

    For roughly two years beginning around May 2017, Khokhar and Smokin’ Wholesale purchased about $2 million in tobacco products from the distributors, but failed to report accurately to the Connecticut Department of Revenue Services the value of the products imported into the state, and failed to pay to the state the associated tobacco taxes owed.

    Through this scheme, Khokhar and others caused Connecticut to suffer a tax loss around $1 million, Avery said.

  • Momentum Building for Tobacco Tax Hike

    Momentum Building for Tobacco Tax Hike

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Momentum is building for higher tobacco duties in Nepal , reports MyRublica.

    During a discussion with health reporters on May 10, Health and Population Minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet said he is prepared to increase the tax on tobacco products and spend the money on health services.

    While developed countries subject tobacco products to tax rates of more than 70 percent, Nepal is currently taxing at a low percentage, according to Basnet.

    Basnet aims to invest the money earned from additional tobacco taxation in government hospitals. Nepal’s budget has struggled in the wake of an economic crisis caused by the Ukraine war and Covid-19.

  • Tobacco taxes to rise 11 percent in Indonesia

    The Indonesian government has announced an average increase in tobacco excise taxes of 11.19 percent, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2016.

    “The highest tax increase of 12.96 to 16.47 percent will be applicable to machine-rolled cigarettes, and the lowest increase of 0 to 12 percent will apply to hand-rolled cigarettes,” said the Finance Ministry’s director general of taxation, Heru Pambudi.

    Heru said the government would not increase taxes on hand-rolled cigarettes in the III B group because of their slower production rate in comparison to machine-made cigarettes, according to a story in The Jakarta Post.

    This year the Indonesian government set a target of Rp 139.12 trillion (US$10.29 billion) for tobacco tax revenue. In total, the excise revenue target listed in the 2016 state budget is Rp 155.52 trillion, which includes Rp 148.86 trillion from tobacco taxes and Rp 171.2 million from alcohol taxes.

    Heru expressed his optimism that the government would reach its targeted cigarette excise revenue due to the upcoming regional elections, stating that “consumption usually increases” at regional election time.

    Deputy Coordinating Economic Minister Edy Putra Irawady has said that in 2020, the government will no longer take tobacco taxes into account in the state budget, or the contribution of the tobacco-related industry to employment. According to Edy, by 2020 the government would have prioritized public safety over the economic impacts of the tobacco industry.