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Bangladesh Network for Tobacco Tax Policy (BNTTP), Bangladesh Anti-Tobacco Alliance (BATA) and AID Foundation have jointly arranged a press conference demanding specific tax on tobacco products. The virtual press conference was held on Saturday (May 22).  

 Project Director of AID Foundation Sagufta Sultana presided over the press conference, while Project Director of BNTTP Hamidul Islam Hillol presented the keynote paper. Representatives from some other anti-tobacco platforms joined the press conference.    

In his presentation, Hamidul Islam Hillol called the government to impose specific tax on tobacco products in the upcoming budget in the interest of increasing revenue income and controlling the tobacco consumption to save the public health.

He said that the government imposes tax on tobacco products every year, but the government is deprived of expected revenue income due to methodological complexity regarding taxation on tobacco products. However, the benefit of tobacco companies unexpectedly increases every year, while the companies are evading tax for the methodological complexity, he added. 

Hamidul Islam Hillol further said that they have already placed proposals over specific taxation on tobacco products. If the government implements the proposals from the upcoming fiscal year, about 11 lakh smokers will quit smoking, while the revenue income will increase at about Tk 3,400 crore.  

Earlier on May 11, the anti-tobacco platforms at the press conference raised the demand of imposing specific taxation on tobacco products from the next fiscal year.