Apprehending increase in taxes on cigarettes, tobacco farmers in Andhra Pradesh have said that any further burden on the end product could adversely impact their incomes. A group of farmers organised a rally in Devarapalli in West Godavari district, making an appeal to the Union Government not to hike the taxes on cigarettes.
They alleged that the anti-tobacco lobby deliberately released a study on Tobacco Taxes in India to mislead and pressurise the policy makers ahead of the Union Budget.
In a statement, the Federation of All India Farmer Associations (FAIFA) felt that tax on tobacco in India was among the highest in the world. “It is 14 times higher than in the USA, nine times higher than in Japan, seven times higher than in China and five times higher than in Australia,” it said.
Quoting Euromonitor, it said high taxation had led to the proliferation of illegal cigarettes, causing huge losses to the exchequer.
The association claimed that cigarettes accounted for only 11 per cent of the total tobacco consumption in the country. “Still, the taxation on cigarette is 50 times higher than non-cigarette tobacco products,” it said.