LAHORE — Whenever a government in Pakistan decides to increase tax collection, smokers are the first causality since cigarettes are considered the only luxury for which people can pay more even without registering their protest.
Although the proposal for an increase in tax on cigarettes has been coming from the relevant department in the past, but this time a popular TV anchor has proposed the government to increase the tax on cigarettes.
The proposal has come from Saleem Safi, a well-known TV anchor associated with Pakistan’s Geo News channel.
In a Twitter post on Monday, Safi wrote, “A pack of cigarettes, which costs $27 in Australia, $15 in the United Kingdom and $9 in the United States, costs just $1 in Pakistan. The prime minister should impose flood relief tax on every pack of cigarettes and increase the minimum price of a pack to $8. Billions of rupees will be collected within a few days.”
سگریٹ کا جو ڈبہ آسٹریلیا میں 27 ڈالر، برطانیہ میں 15 ڈالر اور امریکہ میں 9 ڈالر کا ہے وہ پاکستان میں ایک ڈالر کا بکتا ہے۔ وزیراعظم آج ہی سگریٹ کے ہر ڈبے پر فلڈ ریلیف ٹیکس لگا کر ایک ڈؓبے کی قیمت کم از کم 8 ڈالر کردیں۔ چند دنوں میں کئی ارب روپے جمع ہوں گے۔
— Saleem Safi (@SaleemKhanSafi) August 28, 2022
Safi has floated this proposal at a time when the federal government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is also president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), is desperately seeking donations for the flood victims.
Going by Safi’s proposal, the prime minister should increase the minimum cost of a pack, which contains 20 cigarettes, to $8 or Rs1,765 if converted into Pakistani currency.
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If you scan Twitter users comments under Safi’s post, most people have criticised him for floating such a proposal without knowing its pros and cons. However, some people have praised Safi for floating such an idea in the best interest of the country and the people of Pakistan.
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Floods have wreaked havoc in most parts of Pakistan. Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and parts of Punjab have been worst hit by the floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains. As of August 29, at least 1,000 people have died in the floods and around 33 million have been affected. In addition, property worth $10 billion has been destroyed.