Home ›› 25 Aug 2022 ›› News
Bangladesh has lost around Tk 4,879.85 crore in revenue collection in FY2021-22 due to the existing tax structure imposed on the tobacco companies and products, according to the findings of a new study.
The findings were disclosed at a seminar, titled “Specific Taxation on Tobacco Products to Protect Public Health,” at the Planning Commission in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The study was conducted by Dhaka University’s (DU) Bureau of Economic Research and the Bangladesh Network for Tobacco Tax Policy (BNTTP).
At present, the government collects revenue from the tobacco industry using the ad valorem tax method. Experts and anti-tobacco activists have long been urging for the implementation of a specific tax structure for proper revenue collection.
DU’s economics Professor Dr Rumana Haque and senior journalist Sushanta K Sinha presented the main findings of the study at the seminar.
They said the maximum retail price printed on a 20-stick packet of very-high-quality cigarettes was Tk 270 but the average retail selling price was Tk 294.29. If the tax was levied against this price, the government would have received about Tk 583.22 crore more from this type of cigarette alone.
Similarly, it would have been possible to collect about Tk 399.31 crore from the high-quality cigarettes, Tk 236.52 crore from the mid-quality ones and Tk 3,660.80 crore from the low-quality cigarettes, they added.
They said that a specific taxation system needs to be imposed on tobacco products instead of the existing ad valorem tax system to ensure the government does not lose the money that could have been collected as revenue.
The event was also attended by Planning Minister MA Mannan and National Tobacco Control Cell Coordinator Hossain Ali Khandkar, among others.
