E.9. Duties on cigarettes and manufactured tobacco products have remained constant since 2005. In the meantime, smoking prevalence has increased, especially amongst youths aged 18 to 29. To discourage this trend, I will raise the excise duties for cigarettes and manufactured tobacco products by 10%. (Refer to Annex A-5.)
E.10. This is expected to yield additional revenue of about $70 million a year.
Liquor Excise Duties
E.11. The last effective increase in liquor duties was made 10 years ago, in 2004, when we rationalised our liquor duties to bring them in line with our international obligations. We will now raise the excise duty rate of all liquor types by 25% to keep pace with inflation. (Refer to Annex A-5.)
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced on Friday that liquor duties will increase by 25 per cent to keep pace with inflation. Entertainment outlets Channel NewsAsia spoke with said they are already facing cost pressures.
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File photo of glasses of beer at an entertainment outlet. (AFP/Patrik Stollarz)
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SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced on Friday that liquor duties will increase by 25 per cent to keep pace with inflation.
Entertainment outlets Channel NewsAsia spoke with said they are already facing cost pressures as a result of the restriction of foreign labour and rental increases.
The brunt of the latest tax, the first increase since 2004, will most likely be passed on to consumers.
Two major outlets Channel NewsAsia spoke with said they have the advantage of bargaining power with wholesalers as they buy in larger quantities.
But smaller outlets could be worse off.
The excise rate on a litre of beer is about S$48 per litre of alcoholic content. The increase would bring the rate to S$60 per litre of alcoholic content.
For wines and spirits, the current rate is S$70 per litre of alcoholic content. This would go up to S$88 per litre of