The draft amendment to the tobacco and alcohol tax law has been passed at a joint meeting of the Finance Committee and the Social Welfare and Environmental Health Committees of the Legislative Yuan on 13th March 2017. The main provisions of the amendment are given below.
- Tobacco tax is planned to be increased from TWD 590 to TWD 1,590 per 1,000 cigarettes or per kg of other tobacco products.
- The increased tax is planned to be allocated to a special fund set up in accordance with the Long-term Care Service Law, which is used for long-term care services, and would not be included in the normal financial revenue and expenditure account.
Tobacco tax currently contains 48% of the tobacco price, deviating widely from the 70% that is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
