THE GOVERNMENT has imposed further tax charges on cigarette products as part of controlling smoking in the country.
Permanent Secretary (PS) for Ministry of Finance and Treasury (MoFT) Harry Kuma revealed this when he appeared before the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Friday.
He said government has increased the tax duty for cigarettes and are considering the same move for alcohol and vehicles.
Kuma said the decision to increase tax duties for cigarettes complements the ongoing campaign by the Health Ministry to discourage smoking under the smoking control act.
“Government is currently considering raising the duty on alcohol and imported vehicles.”
Following PEC questioning, PS Kuma said imported goods with high sugar contents are on their radar as well, but they have to wait for technical assessment, before they could come up with any duty adjustments for sugar items.
By AATAI JOHN
