ISRAEL
Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) has rejected a request to raise taxes on rolling tobacco. According to Jerusalem Post, professor Eliezer Robinson, chairman and senior oncologist of the Israel Cancer Association (ICA), and Miri Ziv, ICA director general, wrote a letter to Kahlon slamming him for refusing to explain why he had ignored their demands.
In Israel, taxes on rolling tobacco are significantly less than a tax on pre-prepared cigarettes. In 2013 alone Israel lost 130 million shekels because smokers switched to buying rolling tobacco instead of prepared cigarettes. The number of smokers buying rolling tobacco instead of regular cigarettes has since grown, causing an estimated loss of over a billion shekels.
Ziv and Robinson are reported to have said that raising taxes on both types of tobacco significantly reduces smoking. They also noted that low socioeconomic groups are the ones most likely to smoke, and the poor health caused by smoking widens the socioeconomic and health gaps between the rich and poor.
Speaking to Jerusalem Post, Kahlon’s communications adviser, Omri Harushi, said Kahlon had “vowed not to raise taxes” and saw equalizing taxes on rolling tobacco and pre-prepared cigarettes as a “tax raise.”