The Taipei National Tax Admin-istration urged tobacco retailers to give their customers refunds for improper taxes on domestic or imported cigarettes that they were charged.
According to the amendments to the Tobacco and Liquor Tax Law (
Most cigarette firms began passing that extra cost on to consumers last Thursday.
But the administration under the Ministry of Finance, said that the extra tax was only supposed to be imposed on cigarettes produced or imported into the nation beginning last Thursday, according to a statement released yesterday.
Cigarettes produced or imported before that date should only have been taxed NT$5 and not NT$10, regardless of when they are sold by retailers, the statement said.
The administration said it that it has established an ad hoc committee yesterday to inspect companies that added an extra NT$5 charge on cigarettes that were produced or imported before last Thursday.
Retailers should return to consumers what they overcharged them, and hand over any unclaimed refunds to their upstream suppliers, which are required to direct the money to a designated account that the administration will set up by the end of April, the statement said.
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