India: Activists Seek VAT Hike on All Tobacco Products in State

Source from:  The Indian Express  03/10/2013

Days after Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir hiked value added tax (VAT) on all tobacco products last week, anti-tobacco activists have demanded a similar VAT hike in Maharashtra as well.
 
Rajasthan increased the VAT on all tobacco products from 50 to 65 per cent while Jammu and Kashmir raised it from 30 to 40 per cent. Last year, World Health Organisation (WHO) was considering a global excise tax of up to 70 per cent on cigarettes.
 
Maharashtra imposes a tax of only five per cent on beedis and 20 per cent on all other tobacco products. In 2012, the state government had announced a tax rollback on beedis by 7.5 per cent to bring it down to five per cent.
 
"Tobacco chewing is the most common form of tobacco consumption seen among children in cities. The state government must be proactive and increase VAT on all tobacco products," said Devika Chaddha, programme director of Salaam Bombay Foundation, an NGO that works for street children addicted to tobacco.
 
Members of Voice Of Tobacco Victims (VoTV) met Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar recently seeking a statewide VAT increase on all tobacco products. They have also written to finance ministers of various states to include all other forms of tobacco under tax increase and not just cigarettes as was announced in the Union Budget last month.
 
"In India, only five per cent of the smoking population smoke cigarettes, hence the taxation on cigarettes is futile. With beedi being the biggest and cheapest killer, it is essential to get it under the tax purview. Other forms of smokeless tobacco must be taxed as well," said Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi, oncologist at Tata Memorial Hospital and VoTV founder. "Our meeting with the deputy CM was positive and we have been assured that the matter will be taken forward," said Chaturvedi. Enditem