Monday, September 22, 2008

Thank You for Smoking!

There was an interesting little nugget last week on the website of The Mainichi Daily News, discussing the benefits of raising taxes on cigarettes.
The government can expect to make an extra 9 trillion yen in tax revenue over the next 10 years by raising the price of cigarettes to 1,000 yen a pack, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced Wednesday.

"Many people won't be able to give up, even if they want to, so raising the price will lead to an increase in tax income," said a representative of the ministry's research team.

[...] The currently-planned price increase to 500 yen is predicted to make an extra 4 trillion yen in tax over the next 10 years.

I found it interesting that, in an announcement about tax increases on cigarettes, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (!) is looking only at the bottom line. How much money can we rake in? There is no discussion of the dangers of smoking, the cost to society, and the usual crap. In fact the single quote in the article suggests that they actually want people to continue smoking!

Amazing...

4 comments:

  1. Perhaps by now they figure it goes without saying...

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  2. AV,
    I'd say refreshingly honest if it weren't so damned expensive!

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  3. That only shows hoy hypocritical our societies are. If they really didn't want us to smoke, they would ban tobacco, and that would be the bottom line! But here in Mexico they passed that stupid law banning smoking in public places without alternate places for smokers to stop investing in health, and they rise the taxes on cigarettes. I wish governments would stop lying; it's only about the money.

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  4. Usual Stuff,
    You should see the poor, huddled masses outside office buildings in Canada in the middle of winter!

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