The Federal
Similarly, the revenue loss has also increased to
He also talked about the
He revealed that there has been a 93 per cent increase in excise duty during the past 18 months which has widened the price gap between illicit and legal cigarettes. On the other hand, an unprecedented 46 per cent hike in excise rate of lowest tier in the Finance Supplementary (Amendment) Act, 2018, increased the non-duty paid cigarette market share up to 37.6 per cent.
He said that the government needs to implement certain fiscal and administrative actions to combat these issues.
He suggested that the government should avoid levying any additional tax, levy or charge on the cigarette sector as this will provide incentive for further tax evasion and increase in market share of illicit cigarettes.
In addition to this, he said that the government also needs to reduce the duties of cigarettes so that the market presently captured by illicit manufacturers is minimised.
'Federal excise duty on unmanufactured tobacco needs to be increased at least to
He also asked the government to reduce the minimum pack price as illicit manufacturers operate at a price range and tax paying companies paid
Aftab said that enforcement measures have so far failed to curb the market share of illicit cigarettes. 'The government intends to introduce a track and trace system, however, its success is dependent upon implementation and enforcement at retail level,' he added.
He also said that counterfeit cigarette trade has also increased to approximately 2.75 billion sticks per year, in addition to market share of non-duty paid cigarettes. 'Total cigarette consumption has remained stable despite excise rate increases. In Tier-1, the rate has increased by more than 30 per cent which has shifted some of the volume to smuggled cigarettes not sporting the statutory health warning. Non-duty paid cigarettes do not conform to regulations governing legal trade,' he added.
© Pakistan Press International, source