Search KamloopsBCNow
During yesterday’s provincial budget announcement, the BC NDP announced another tax increase on tobacco beginning on April 1, 2018.
The forthcoming tax hike on tobacco products will create some of the highest cigarette prices in Canada.
The tax rate on cigarettes will rise from 24.7 cents to 27.5 cents per cigarette, which brings the total provincial tax to $5.50 per pack before adding federal excise tax and provincial sales tax.
This will be the second tax hike on tobacco in B.C. in six months and some believe smokers could begin turning to the illicit black market.
“If the Horgan government thinks it will increase revenue and deter smoking, it is sadly mistaken. History has shown huge increases in tobacco taxes lead only to a portion of consumers turning to the black market,” said Eric Gagnon with Imperial Tobacco Canada.
“If they are serious about reducing smoking incidence in the province, they should instead encourage consumers to switch to potentially less harmful alternatives like vaping or heated tobacco products.”
According to Statistics Canada, BC has the lowest tobacco smoking rates in the country, and is just behind Nova Scotia for having the highest rate of marijuana smokers.