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Cigarette Taxation: 20 Billion Extra Revenue in 2020, if Indexation is Implemented

The Government could raise an extra Rs. 20 Billion from cigarette taxation in 2020 from the proper implementation of the indexation policy articulated in the 2019 Budget and rational calibration of taxes for all cigarette brands....

Cigarette Tax Indexation: Getting it Right and Getting it Wrong

The indexation method introduced in 2019 Budget addresses two pervasive problems in cigarette taxation: (a) lack of regularity and consistency in tax increases, and (b) failure to reduce affordability of cigarettes.

Tobacco Policy: Mitigating the Influence of Vested Interests

Sri Lanka ratified the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in November 2003. The FCTC is a global treaty developed in response to t...

The Hidden Side of Cigarette Pricing

The media in Sri Lanka has often misrepresented the cigarette industry and cigarette taxes in favour of the monopoly producer Ceylon Tobacco Company (CTC). In June 2017, Verité Research (VR) pub...

Who is responsible for Alternative facts on Cigarette Taxation?

The term ‘Alternative Facts’ has come to describe ‘blatant falsehoods’ spread to the media by those in power who purposely create doubt about even obvious and easily verifiable facts. Over the last few months, the Sri...