Budget 23
Greedy Facts
Over the next three years the price of a 25 pack of Marlboro will rise from $53.95 to $60.37.
A carton of Marlborough Gold from $392 to $436 per cartoon at least.
An average smoker on ten a day will contribute $5,271 per year in tax for cigarettes alone in the 23/24 financial year. Now you know where the billions come from!
A person earning $45,000 a year and smoking ten cigarettes a day will pay 10% of their income in cigarettes taxes whereas a person smoking 10 a day earning $120,000 a year will pay 4% of their income in cigarette taxes.
The actual increases after changes in average weekly earnings are taken into account will be larger!
The Government expects to collect over $13 Billion in taxes plus from smokers per year despite predicting a 50% decline in the number of smokers in Australia!
This means over the next three years the Government expects to collect over $39 billion in taxes from smokers:a ridiculous sum!
Details
Excise on a cigarette(a stick) will rise from $1.16 to $1.24 on September the first 2023. After including the GST the rise will be $1.27 to $1.36 per smoke! This does not include the twice yearly increases due to changes in average weekly earnings and the extra 10% increase in Excise planned for the following years.
Roll your own tobacco will also rise. From $1,663 per kilo to $1,842 per kilo. After the including the GST the rises will be from $1,829.30 to $2,026 per kilo. This is the first increase in excise with another two excise rises to follow. The government also plans to standardize excise rates on tobacco so it is the equivalent of the cigarette rate.So more tax hikes to follow.
More detail on health measures implemented by the Government are outlined in the article on the Tobacco Control Strategy: Totalitairianism for the Modern World.
Tax rates for tobacco are published on the following page from the ATO Excise Rates NB the ATO is raising actual excise rates by more than the 5% claimed in the budget.(1.16 to 1.24 per stick is closer to 7% than 5)
Budget Estimates:Epic Tax Gourging!
Treasury publishes forecasts of the amount of revenue they expect to collect from excise taxes on Tobacco. Once upon a time people said the only certainties in life were death and taxes: Labour has combined the two and decided to tax smokers to death!
Excise collections from tobacco were $12.7 billion dollars for 2022-23 financial year and are estimated to rise to over $13 Billion dollars per year in subsequent years. Excise tax on Tobacco raises more than four times the amount raised by excise on beer. Why excise collections would rise by more than $3 Billion in the out years while the number of smokers is expected to fall is a mystery, unless the Government assumes demand for tobacco is highly inelastic and hence exploits tobacco addiction in the same way as a heroin dealer!
The 2023-24 budget included more restrictions on the marketing of tobacco products and other smoker harassment measures. These are outlined in the Tobacco Control Strategy.(see article)
Sources: Budget Paper Number One p 187 Statement 5 Revenue Budget 2023-24 Table 5.9 Reconciliation of general revenue.
Sources: Budget paper No 2 Receipt Measures p 3 Table 1 Receipt measures since the 2022-23 October Budget
Source: Budget Paper Number 1 Budget 2023-24 Statement 5 Revenue p182
"The measure Tobacco Excise - measures to improve health outcomes and aligning the treatment of stick and non stick tobacco tax which is expected to increase customs duty receipts by $290 million in 2023-24 and by $3 billion over the 5 years from 2022-23 to 2026-27."
NB this is the increase only not total excise collections!