Inter-party negotiations at the Legislative Yuan on Friday reached a consensus to make amendments to the Tobacco and Liquor Tax Law (
If the legislature passes the draft, the revisions could take effect next year.
Last year NT$8 billion in tobacco tax was collected and legislators estimate that the latest tax hike could bring in another NT$4 billion for the government.
The draft amendment stipulates that for every 1,000 cigarettes sold, NT$400, instead of the current NT$250, must be paid in health taxes, translating into a $3NT increase per pack of cigarettes.
The Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp said that in the interest of protecting the tobacco industry's workers, it would be better if the health tax were added directly to the price of the cigarettes instead of being levied on the quantity of cigarettes sold.
The corporation said that when the health tax is levied on quantity, the hike is more obvious in moderately priced cigarettes, such as the local brands, than in the more expensive imported brands. The increased tax would benefit private cigarette companies and discourage bootleg manufacturers, it said.
The corporation also said that it fully supports the rice wine revisions and is not opposed to the policy taking effect even before the Legislature votes on the draft.
However, the Department of Health's Bureau of Health Promotion expressed its doubts regarding the proposed revision. The bureau cited a survey of roughly 3,300 consumers conducted by the National Health Research Institute, stressing the institute's findings that the price of cigarettes needed to increase to NT$54 per packet to affect consumption.
"The NT$3 tax increase will give the overall tax revenue a substantial boost; however, when compared with the price of other consumer goods, the price increase to the NT$50 pack of cigarettes is not a big deal," the bureau said.
It further said that a pack of Marlboro cigarettes costs NT$50 in Taiwan, NT$127 in Hong Kong and NT$238 in New York, pointing out that, comparatively speaking, Taiwan's cigarette prices are low.
In an effort to abide by the World Health Organization's (WHO) policies, the bureau said Taiwan should take note of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control which encourages the increase of the price of tobacco products.
The bureau highlighted data from the World Bank indicating that for every 10 percent increase in cigarette prices, there was a 4 percent to 8 percent decrease in consumption.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
RSS