The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been urged to play a crucial role in curbing tobacco use by strengthening tobacco control laws and implementing robust taxation measures.
This call was made during a meeting between a delegation from PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) with NBR Chairman Md. Abdur Rahman Khan FCMA at the NBR office today, reads a press release.
The NBR chairman acknowledged the significance of the proposals, stating, “I appreciate PROGGA-ATMA because unlike most stakeholders who demand tax reductions, they are advocating for a tax hike. All of your reform proposals are reasonable, and we will consider them during national budget formulation. I will also facilitate the amendment of the tobacco control law.”
During the meeting, the delegation highlighted that the affordability of tobacco products, due to a flawed taxation system, has fueled addiction, particularly among youth and low-income groups. Tobacco use is responsible for nearly 161,000 deaths annually in Bangladesh and imposes a significant financial burden on the healthcare system.
The delegation presented several demands aimed at improving public health and increasing government revenue. The demands include aligning cigarette prices with inflation and per capita income growth, replacing the multi-tiered ad valorem tax system with a uniform specific or mixed tax model and raising the supplementary duty on low-tier cigarettes to at least 70%.
Speakers also argued that strengthening tobacco control laws would not lead to revenue losses. Citing NBR data, they pointed out that following the enactment of the tobacco control law in
The delegation urged the NBR to resist misleading narratives from the tobacco industry and provide support for the swift passage of the draft amendment to the tobacco control law initiated by the Health Ministry.
The meeting was attended by Professor Dr. Sohel Reza Chowdhury of the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, Mortuza Haider Liton (ATMA convener), Nadira Kiron and Mizan Chowdhury (ATMA co-conveners), ABM Zubair (Executive Director of PROGGA), and Md. Hasan Shahriar (Head of Programs, PROGGA).
