Tobacco excise tax goes up tonight

BANGKOK (AFP): Tobacco taxes are to be raised from midnight tonight in an effort to offset government revenues lost by diesel tax cuts last week. The cabinet endorsed a Ministry of Finance proposal to increase the excise tax on tobacco products, Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai said. “Cigarettes are the main target for this tax adjustment,” he said, following a weekly cabinet meeting. The cigarette tax will be raised from 70% per pack to 71.5% as of midnight tonight. A 30-baht pack of cigarettes will go up in price to about 30.50. The cigar and tobacco products excise taxes will jump from 0.1% to 10%. The hike in tobacco excise taxes is expected to raise two billion baht (about 50 million dollars) in revenues, Chuan said, adding that the Finance Ministry would re-evaluate the tax after one year.