The Financial Secretary today announced that the excise duty on tobacco products will be immediately increased by 50% to HK$ 24 per pack above the current levels of just over HK$ 16 per pack.
Whilst we have sought a 100% tax increase, Clear the Air estimates that the new increased tax will hopefully:
– Reduce current adult smoking significantly
– Reduce current youth smoking by a significant amount and prevent our non smoking youth starting their addiction due to peer pressure
The Hong Kong Administration must now capitalize on this tax increase and move towards making Hong Kong the world’s leading non smoking territory.
Read the full Media Release here: http://tobacco.cleartheair.org.hk/2009/02/25/50-tobacco-tax-increase/
烟草税增加50％
財政司司長今天宣佈立即增加烟草稅50％，即每包香烟的烟草稅由現時的16元調高至24元。
爭氣行動一向要求政府增加烟草稅100％，雖然增幅未達我們的要求，我們預期新調高的稅率將會：
– 令成年烟民的數目明顯減少
– 令青少年烟民的數目明顯減少，從而防止青少年因受朋輩壓力去開始吸烟
香港政府應利用這次加稅的決定向前邁進令香港成為領導世界的無烟城市。
要看完整的新聞稿請點擊以下連接：
http://tobacco.cleartheair.org.hk/2009/02/25/50-tobacco-tax-increase/