NPC NCAS calls on the finance minister to increase excise tax on tobacco to cover the cost of the harm The National Council Against Smoking hosted a media briefing on tobacco tax and illicit trade today, calling on Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to increase excise tax on tobacco products by 18 percentage points to 70%. Mboweni delivers the Mid-Term Budget Policy Statement next week, on October 24, 2018. South Africa currently collects about R13 billion a year in taxes from tobacco sales while the tobacco-related harm costs South Africa R59 billion each year. The taxes collected cover just a fraction of the harm while the rest of the burden is carried by the taxpayer. This figure does not even... [Read more]