The government is to discuss raising health taxes on cigarettes next year, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said on Wednesday, following criticism that it has not raised the tobacco tax for years.
The Taiwan Active Aging Association recently held a news conference, calling on officials to further reduce the smoking population by setting policy goals, making tobacco products harder to access and raising health taxes every two years.
Regulations state that an expert committee shall deliberate the tobacco tax every other year, HPA Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) told the Central News Agency on Wednesday.
Photo: CNA
The tax was not raised over the past four years due to COVID-19, with the most recent committee meeting last year deciding not to adjust the tax as the pandemic was still ongoing, he said.
The committee meeting next year would discuss raising the tax, as the pandemic has subsided, he added.
Wu agreed that “controlling consumption through cost” is a successful tactic for smoking prevention, and vowed to continue promoting other methods, such as labeling and banning smoking in more areas.
Lee Yue-chune (李玉春), a professor of public health at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, said that smoking declined significantly after Taiwan raised the tobacco tax in 2009 and 2017.
Last year, the average cost of a pack of cigarettes was NT$116 (US$3.71), with taxes accounting for 53 percent, below the WHO recommended minimum of 75 percent, she said.
Taiwan spends an estimated NT$80 billion annually on diseases caused by cigarettes and secondhand smoke, Lee said, recommending that the government set a target for the tobacco tax as a percentage of cigarette cost.
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