How many Iranians does tobacco kill every year?
Engineer Behzad Valizadeh stated that “taxes” are known as the most important way to reduce tobacco consumption in the world, and stated: “The 75% tax rate on cigarette retail sales has been introduced as the most effective deterrent and reduction rate for tobacco consumption.”
75% tax on retail sales; An effective way to control smoking
According to Isna, he stated that although a 75% tax rate on retail sales has been introduced as an effective solution to control tobacco consumption, this rate is not implemented in the country, adding that the country's tobacco tax rate is 25% of the retail price. The World Health Organization has announced. Statistics and figures show that the country's tobacco tax rate is about 50% away from the global rate.
Low price of cigarettes in Iran
The head of the National Tobacco Control Secretariat of the Ministry of Health continued: The price of tobacco products in the country is very cheap and consumers at any income level can easily purchase a tobacco product. Regardless of the price of the nozzle on the envelope of tobacco products, cigarettes are sold in tobacco product distribution centers in the form of cotton, which affects the ability of people to buy these products.
Crimes of selling cigarettes and laws that are not deterrents
Stating that selling cigarettes in the form of cotton is an illegal act, he noted that crimes have been defined for selling cigarettes in the form of cotton and the violators should be brought to the judicial authorities. Although there are laws in the field of tobacco, they are not deterrent and young people can easily and cheaply buy cigarettes. If cigarettes are not sold in bulk, consumers will have to pay more for tobacco products. In addition to increasing the cost of consuming tobacco products in a package, there is a possibility that young people and teenagers will face restrictions to hide the cigarette package, which will discourage people from buying tobacco products.
Huge profits for tobacco companies in the current tax situation
The Head of the Secretariat of the National Tobacco Control Headquarters of the Ministry of Health stated that the tobacco tax in the country has a structural problem, and added: Although in addition to the value added tax, which has increased by five percentage points every year since the implementation of this law, and currently for Domestically produced products with the Iranian label have reached 40% and the international label has reached 55%, the tax rates of the budget law of 2023 on tobacco products were also considered in the seventh five-year development plan, but in the end, the amount of this tax compared to the budget law 2023 was much less approved.
Necessity of implementing specific positions for selling cigarettes and calculating retail sales tax
He continued: In order to make the value added tax law on tobacco products effective, tobacco product sales centers need to be equipped with special booths. In such a way that the approved tax rates of tobacco products are calculated and collected in the form of retail sales. Certainly, the implementation of special positions for tobacco product supply centers and the calculation of tax based on retail sales can have some effect on reducing the amount of consumption. The current tax situation gives huge profits to tobacco companies and tax evasion ways are available.
Valizadeh said: It is also necessary for the country's tax affairs organization to announce the amount of income collected from the tobacco tax, and specifically to mark the income from the value added tax law on tobacco products, which is directly deposited into the account of the Ministry of Interior, with an asterisk. The implementation of the policies announced by the Supreme Health Council should be fully funded and the Ministry of Interior should submit a report on the cost effectiveness of the value added tax on tobacco products to the National Tobacco Control Headquarters of the Ministry of Health.
50 thousand Iranians die every year due to smoking.
Valizadeh stated that we hope to be able to solve the problem of tobacco consumption with the correct implementation of tax laws and other solutions to reduce the supply and demand of tobacco products, and said: statistics show that 8 million and 700 thousand people in the world die from tobacco use every year. They lose their lives. The death rate due to smoking in our country is equal to 50 thousand people every year.
