Speakers at a workshop stressed the urgent need for an overhaul of the cigarette tax structure, saying that reforms could generate an additional Tk 20 billion in government revenue and encourage millions to quit smoking.
The two-day event, titled "Tobacco Tax and Price Measures: Budget FY 2025-26," was organizsd by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and ATMA (Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance) at the BIP Conference Room in Dhaka ended on Thursday.
It was attended by 50 journalists from various print, television, and online media outlets.
During the workshop, experts pointed out that the current four-tier cigarette price structure—low, medium, high, and premium—has made tobacco pricing and tax measures less effective.
Specifically, the narrow price gap between low and medium-tier cigarettes enables consumers to easily switch between these two categories, undermining the intended price regulation.
To address this issue, the speakers proposed merging the low and medium tiers into a single category in the upcoming FY 2025-26 national budget.
This adjustment would reduce the number of price tiers to three, effectively raising the price for lower-tier cigarettes and discouraging consumption among the youth and lower-income groups, they said.
The speakers said tobacco products in Bangladesh are already inexpensive, especially compared to essential commodities.
This is largely due to the lack of a robust tax structure, making tobacco products more affordable than they should be.
Proposed tax measures for the FY 2025-26 budget include:
Merging low and medium-tier cigarettes into one category, with a price of BDT 90 for 10 sticks.
Maintaining the current price of BDT 140 for high-tier cigarettes (10 sticks).
Raising the price of premium cigarettes to BDT 190 for 10 sticks.
Keeping the supplementary duty (SD) at 67% for all cigarette tiers.
Setting BDT 25 for 25 sticks of non-filtered bidi and BDT 20 for 20 sticks of filtered bidi, both subject to a 45% SD.
NBR cuts source tax on fresh fruit imports to 5%
Setting the retail price for 10 grams of jarda and gul at BDT 55 and BDT 30, respectively, with a 60% SD.
Retaining the 15% VAT on tobacco products and continuing the 1% health development surcharge (HDS).
City Editor of Daily Janakantha Kawser Rahman, Deputy Editor of The Business Standard Sazzadur Rahman, ATMA Convener Mortuza Haider Liton, and Co-Convener Nadira Kiron. ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA, and Hasan Shahriar, Head of Tobacco Control at PROGGA took part in the discussion.