Tax hit on Saudi smokers

The price of a pack of cigarettes doubled for Saudi Arabian smokers yesterday as the kingdom imposed a first-time tax measure to help fill the revenue hole caused by a drop in oil revenues, according to a Channel News Asia story.

Residents of the world’s biggest oil exporter were said to have long enjoyed a tax-free and heavily subsidized existence.

But a collapse in crude prices since 2014 had sparked cutbacks and a search for new revenue.

The ‘selective tax’, effective from Sunday, raised the price of tobacco 100 per cent, to 18-24 riyals (US$4.80-6.40) per pack.

Saudi Arabia’s imposition of the new tax follows an agreement among the six Gulf Co-operation Council nations and is said to be in line with International Monetary Fund recommendations.