Amid new tobacco taxes smuggled cigarette's availability jumps by 200pc
Business
Despite a 20% increase in excise duty, government revenues have only increased by 14%.
LAHORE (Dunya News) - Illegal cigarette’s market share increased up to 39% in two months due to the increase in taxes on the cigarette industry. Availability of smuggled cigarettes has increased by 200% in the past two months.
According to documents, 70 new smuggled cigarette brands jumped into the market during the last two months. In January 2023, the largest tobacco company of Pakistan had a market share of 4.8 billion cigarettes, which decreased to 2.6 billion cigarettes in February 2023. In March 2023, the market share of the largest tobacco company of Pakistan further fell to 1.8 billion cigarettes.
According to the documents, the market share of illegal cigarettes in January 2023 was 2.8 billion, which increased to 4.6 billion cigarettes in February 2023. The market share of illegal cigarettes has now increased to 4.8 billion cigarettes in March 2023.
From July 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, the largest tobacco company gave 9.2 billion rupees in taxes. The largest tobacco company is estimated to submit 13.5 billion rupees in taxes by the end of current fiscal year. Despite a 20% increase in excise duty, government revenues have only increased by 14%.
The country is experiencing an influx of smuggled cigarettes from Afghanistan and Iran. Customs duty and taxes are usually evaded on these smuggled cigarettes, and the government-approved picture for health warning is also not displayed on these cigarette boxes.
