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The retail price of cigarettes has gone up by more than 10 per cent overnight, after Singapore implemented a 15 per cent increase in excise duty across all tobacco products on Feb. 14, the day the 2023 Budget was made public.
A 20-stick packet of Marlboro cigarettes is now expected to be sold at S$15.52, when it was previously sold for S$14, said the Ministry of Finance.
The sudden increase saw some retailers resorting to informing customers about the price change via makeshift signs.
The excise duty on all tobacco products was raised to discourage consumption.
Excise duty is levied on goods manufactured in or imported into Singapore.
The increase is expected to generate about S$100 million in additional revenue per year.
Price change calculation
Cigarette buyers will now have to fork out 49.1 cents tax for every stick of cigarette, up from 42.7 cents per stick.
The excise tax incidence on the packet of cigarettes will be around 75 per cent before goods and services tax, which is comparable to countries such as New Zealand, France and Australia, MOF added.
The excise tax incidence measures the excise duties levied on a pack of tobacco cigarettes as a proportion of the total retail price, according to The Straits Times.
The World Health Organisation recommends a minimum 75 per cent tax share of the retail price of tobacco.
For smokeless tobacco products, the duty levied will now be 37.8 cents per gram, up from 32.9 cents.
Duties for cigarettes and other manufactured tobacco were last increased by 10 per cent in 2018.
In 2014, it was raised 10 per cent.
Singapore has been raising the minimum legal age for smoking from 19 years in 2019 to 21 years in January 2021.
Top photos via Wake Up, Singapore & Wikipedia