ISLAMABAD: The federal government has imposed taxes on salaried employees in the recent budget, but surprisingly, the cigarette industry has benefited by billions of rupees by giving tax relief.
According to details, the government allegedly ignored the vision of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and raised the taxable price of expensive cigarette brands, which enabled the tobacco industry to get billions in tax relief.
According to media reports, the tobacco industry benefited immensely on the occasion of the budget approval in the National Assembly. The benefits that the government wanted to get by increasing the federal excise duty on cigarettes could not be achieved.
Under IMF conditions, the government failed to exempt the salaried class from the imposition of the tax. However, the cigarette industry was given billions in relief by changing the taxable price slab, but this change was not made on June 10.
Read more: Local tobacco companies luring youth with low priced cigarettes: Experts
The government pays an excise duty of Rs 5,200 on every 1,000 cigarettes. In the budget, the duty rate was increased by 13.5 percent, bringing the duty on every 1000 cigarettes to Rs 5,900. However, some valuable brands were greatly benefited.
The government has shifted some of the valuable brands to lower tax slabs from Rs 3,960 per 1,000 cigarettes to Rs 6,660 per cigarette, which has given a huge boost to the cigarette industry in the country, which is against government policy. Experts say that cigarettes are the only drug for which no useful use is available. Other drugs including heroin, marijuana and cannabis are also used in medicine but cigarettes have no benefit but can cause cancer.
