Team Herald
PANJIM: Welcoming the GST Council’s decision to retain tobacco products as demerit goods at the highest tax rate of 28 percent, the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) said by levying such high taxes government has prevented millions of youth from tobacco initiation and lifelong addiction.
NOTE secretary Dr Shekhar Salkar said that taxing tobacco products at 28 percent rate will not only discourage its consumption, but will also increase revenue collection for the government.
However, NOTE expressed its displeasure to the fact that beedis are not classified as a “sin” product under GST even though it is as harmful as cigarettes.
“Beedis contribute to the majority of the 10 lakh deaths in India every year as well as the staggering economic burden caused by tobacco use and tobacco related diseases. It is therefore requested that beedis, like cigarettes and smokeless tobacco also be classified as a demerit good and taxed at 28% plus cess,” he said.
Dr Salkar said increase in tobacco taxation will be beneficial for our country’s economy as well as to address public health concerns related to tobacco thus making it a win-win situation.
There is ample evidence about beedi being the killer and not the pleasure of the poor. It should be made unaffordable for the poor to save them from a lifetime of misery and suffering,” he added.
WHO recommends that countries impose tobacco excise taxes that amount to at least 75% or more of retail price to achieve the dual objective of reducing tobacco use and increasing government revenue.
India has the second largest number of tobacco users (268 million or 28.6% of all adults in India) in the world – of these at least 12 lakh die every year from tobacco-related diseases.
