In a recent website article, the Peter G Peterson Foundation, a US nonprofit organisation for building a sustainable fiscal path, took a look at excise taxes in the US and how they fit into the federal budget.

Recently, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and Tabaconomía, a tobacco control think-tank that is part of Bloomberg Philanthropies, held a webinar to discuss the status of tobacco taxation post-COVID-19.

As a large number of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™ readers are already aware, tobacco and alcohol producers spend significant amounts of time and effort lobbying against the installation of tax stamp and traceability systems that are fully managed by national revenue authorities.

At its recent conference held in April, the US Tax Foundation, which is the nation’s leading independent body on tax policy, presented research on some of the most pressing issues in global taxation, including global minimum tax, carbon tax, and excise tax.

Every year, on 24 February, India observes Central Excise Day, as a way of highlighting the essential role of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) in the country’s industrial development.

Kenyans could soon pay more for alcohol, cigarettes, juice and cosmetic products as the Kenya Revenue Authority seeks to increase the price of excise tax stamps (which are used on all of these product groups), as part of its measures to increase revenue collection.

Across tax and customs administrations, there are several key trends that are of some relevance to the secure marking and traceability space.

Following the implementation of its automated marking system in September 2020, the Togolese revenue authority, l’Office Togolais des Recettes (OTR), has reported a substantial increase in excise collections.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) has claimed a staggering ZAR 19 billion ($1.28 billion) in unpaid taxes from just one company, Verbena Freight and Logistics Management, which has since been accused of tobacco smuggling. Most of the outstanding amount relates to customs duties.

Four countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and Vietnam – could have collected an additional $4.81 billion in tax revenue over the last two years and prevented more than 1.3 million premature deaths, if they had had an effective tobacco tax policy in place, claims a recent study released by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA).