Print

Mail

wiki links

KMT caucus opposes tax on betel nut

“It is inappropriate and unnecessary to impose a betel nut tax.” — Lu Hsueh-chang, KMT caucus whip

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus yesterday nixed a proposal by the Department of Health (DOH) to impose a health tax on betel nuts, saying it would hurt the livelihoods of rural residents.

KMT legislative caucus whip Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) said the DOH’s tax proposal — aimed at protecting public health — was a good idea, but the livelihood of the public, particularly those in rural areas, should be taken into consideration when a new law is initiated.

“It is inappropriate and unnecessary to impose a betel nut tax,” Lu said.

Taiwan has about 1.37 million betel nut chewers, the DOH’s latest survey showed.

BIGGEST CASH CROP

The betel nut, grown on more than 50,000 hectares of land around the country, is the nation’s biggest cash crop.

Last year, betel nut production reached NT$8.6 billion (US$266 million), more than double the production value of rice, Council of Agriculture figures showed.

DOH Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said at the Legislative Yuan on Thursday that the department was considering levying a health tax on betel nuts to reduce consumption and generate tax revenue.

The minister supported the idea of imposing a tax of NT$0.13 per betel nut, or NT$2 to NT$3 for each pack of 20 nuts on average.

“We’ve been collecting cigarette taxes with success,” Yaung said to legislators. “Why not levy a tax or surtax on betel nut consumption?”

He acknowledged at the time, however, that it would be very difficult to collect such a tax, as betel nuts are not sold in packs like cigarettes.

HARD TO TAX

Chao Kun-yu (趙坤郁), a deputy director at the Bureau of Health Promotion, said that selling agricultural products like betel nuts do not require a business license and it would be hard to tell vendors to count the number of betel nuts they sell and tax them individually.

Chao said that the health department would accelerate its oral cancer screening campaign given that 90 percent of people in Taiwan suffering from oral and esophageal cancer were betel nut chewers.

Citing foreign medical reports indicating that effective oral cancer screening contributes to lowering fatalities by 43 percent, Chao said that efforts to screen for oral cancer should take precedence over the tax legislation.

About 5,000 new oral cancer cases are reported in the country each year, with 2,300 people losing their lives to the disease.
This story has been viewed 889 times.