1 March 2019

Price matters. Raising taxes to increase tobacco product prices is the most cost-effective measure to reduce tobacco use and encourage users to quit, but it is one of the least used tobacco control measures globally. The question is, why?

Both Belgium and France increased the price of fine cut tobacco. Belgian fine cut tobacco sales decreased by 39% from 9926 tons in 2015 to 6057 tons in 2018. In France, fine cut tobacco decreased by 26% from 8975 tons to 7620 tons in the same period. The tax increases in France had also an impact on the cigarette market: 9,3% less cigarette sales in France in 2018 as result of an increase of one euro per cigarette pack last year.

The Smoke Free Partnership has been offering argumentation, key facts and figures that disprove six misconceptions on tobacco taxation:

• Myth 1: Higher tobacco tax does not reduce consumption.
• Myth 2: Higher tobacco tax results in more illicit trade.
• Myth 3: Higher tobacco tax hurts the poor the most.
• Myth 4: Tobacco tax is a tool of the ‘Bully-state’.
• Myth 5: The tobacco industry pays excises and contributes largely to national budgets.
• Myth 6: Tobacco tax destroys jobs and harms farmers.

Interested to know how to counter false arguments? The Smoke Free Partnership mythbster is available here.