Cutting the tobacco excise won’t stop the illegal trade. This is how other countries solved the problem

By Isabel Meciar, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland
Cheneal Puljević, UQ Amplify Senior Research Fellow, School of Public Health, The University of Queensland
Coral Gartner, Director, NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Achieving the Tobacco Endgame and ARC Future Fellow, The University of Queensland

The Coalition has proposed slashing the tobacco excise, the federal tax on tobacco products, by 80%. It claims cheaper legal cigarettes will draw people who smoke away from the illicit market and deprive organised crime of its profits.

The proposal sounds appealing but is deeply flawed. Australia’s high tobacco tax undeniably makes untaxed sales profitable. Yet this incentive is not by itself a cause.

Whether a tax creates a thriving…

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