Age-old problem

A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker in Taiwan said on Sunday that the government should reduce the tax on tobacco because the public was deeply dissatisfied with the current rate, according to a story by Matt Yu, Wang Cheng-chung, Ku Chuan and William Yen for the Focus Taiwan News Channel.

Hsu Chih-chieh said he had spoken to Premier Su Tseng-chang about this issue because of the public backlash that had erupted after the tax on cigarettes was raised in June 2017 by NT$20 (US$0.65) per pack following the Legislature’s passage of an amendment to the Tobacco and Alcohol Tax Act.

According to Ministry of Finance data, the amendment allowed the tobacco tax to be raised from NT$590 per 1,000 cigarettes to NT$1,590, which added an extra NT$20 to the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes.

Hsu said that while he did not encourage smoking, he recognized that it was one of life’s pleasures for some people.

The tobacco tax went toward the nation’s long-term care of senior citizens, but smokers should not be the ones to fund that, he said.

In response, the Cabinet said it would seek the opinions of various sectors of the society on the issue.

The Cabinet spokesperson Kolas Yotaka said Premier Su has received thoughts from DPP lawmakers on the tobacco tax issue but had not yet responded.

Also commenting on the issue, Kuomintang lawmaker Hsu Chih-jung said the tobacco tax was increased as a deterrent to smoking, and that cutting it now would be counterproductive.