Muhith against tax hike on expensive cigarettes

The finance minister is against levying higher taxes on costly cigarette brands, reports bdnews24.com. A M A Muhith expressed his reservations on Monday as he responded to a call from speaker Abdul Hamid in parliament. Hamid recommended that tax be imposed on high-priced brands, rather than on low-priced ones and biri (local brands). "It'll bar rich people who smoke expensive brands from evading taxes." The minister replied: "I don't think imposition of increased taxes on high-end cigarettes can bring good result. We can't increase it now like the previous years." Muhith argued that past tax hikes only encouraged more than half of the smokers to turn to low-quality cigarettes. Muhith will place the budget for 2011-12 fiscal year in parliament on June 9. Monday's session began around 5:20pm with Speaker Abdul Hamid Advocate in the chair.