Ahmad Maslan Suggest Lowering Tobacco Taxes to Sell cigarettes on RM8 to Fight Black Market
Kuala Lumpur, 16 December, where Ahmad Maslan has suggested that due to currently Malaysia’s cigarettes is facing a huge black market interference, therefore he mentions that in order to combat against these black market cigarettes sold by Malaysia here should be decreased to RM8.
The Pontian MP and former deputy finance minister pointed this out during the Dewan Rakyat Sitting today after Malaysia has lost RM5 billion in tobacco tax revenue annually which around 65% of cigarettes sold in the country today is illegal while only 36% is taxed legal cigarettes.
Currently taxed cigarettes are priced from RM17.40 to RM12 while the illegal cigarettes are from RM8 – Rm2, and these smuggled cigarettes can be bought by school children which are very dangerous too. The Pontian MP also mentioned that government can conduct a 2-year pilot program where the price per cigarettes pack of any particular brand can be sold at RM8 which is similar to the price of illegal packs as Malaysia has the largest black market for cigarettes in the world now.
Perhaps what he said can be true and worked out.
