Think-tank eyes higher tax for tobacco products

A new study on smoking consumption by think-tank Action for Economic Reforms (AER) shows that despite the new high sin tax rates that have improved revenue collections, further tax increases can be done in the medium-term, which will satisfy both revenue and espe-cially health goals.

The study, based on a three-month survey of nearly two thousand respondents in Mega Manila and Metro Cebu in the last quarter of 2012, reveals that while cigarette consumption will decrease, the drop in consumption will be less than what has been previously estimated by previous studies, which were presented in last year’s Congress hearings on the sin tax.