Revise Sin tax law approved in the Philippines
Picture taken from Yahoo.com
In an attempt to lower the number of cigarette smokers in Australia, a new law was passed ti discourages smokers from lighting up a cigarette. The new law that was passed a few days ago forced Tobacco companies to change the packaging. Now all cigarette packages in Australia are identical. The old trademark of Tobacco company has been changed to warning like "Smoking can cause Lung cancer" or "Smoking can cause blindness" with matching pictures
In the Philippines, a revise version of the Sin Tax has been approved by congress and senate and has been signed by President Benigno Aquino III. The enactment of the law will cost the price of both Cigarettes and Alcoholic Beverage to increase. The government hopes that with this new law, the number of Filipinos who are hooked on Cigarettes and Alcohol would decrease.
In the Philippines, a revise version of the Sin Tax has been approved by congress and senate and has been signed by President Benigno Aquino III. The enactment of the law will cost the price of both Cigarettes and Alcoholic Beverage to increase. The government hopes that with this new law, the number of Filipinos who are hooked on Cigarettes and Alcohol would decrease.
It is good that they have passed this law. During the Christmas season, Filipinos who are catholic are accustomed to attend mass which normally starts at 03:00 AM. This would go start on Dec 16 and would end on Dec 24. Anyway as I was to the church, I see teenagers who are smoking. Most of them are very young. If I am not mistaken, the youngest that I saw was around 11 or 12 years old. It is hard to tell how old they are since smoking affects a person's growth.
Maybe 10 years ago the youngest smoker in the Philippines would be around 15 years old. The age the kids nowadays learn how to smoke is getting younger each year. This is scary since smoking is a hard habit to kick once a person has started.
With the price of Cigarettes going up, this might have a positive effect on the number of smokers in Philippines. E-cigarettes has been invented and most of the smokers are using it instead of real cigarettes. Although some would still prefer the real cigarette and some who use E-cigarette end up unsatisfied with the taste, there are some who has completely given up smoking. I would imagine that once prices of Cigarette goes up, the demand for e-cigarette would go high as well. It would be affordable to buy refill for e-cigarette than buying pack of cigarette
The revenue from the sin tax law is targeted to reach 33 billion pesos ($800 million) this year alone. A large part of the revenue would be designated to the government's health programs.
The revenue from the sin tax law is targeted to reach 33 billion pesos ($800 million) this year alone. A large part of the revenue would be designated to the government's health programs.
