WELLINGTON, New Zealand, April 28 (UPI) -- The New Zealand government has implemented a $143 million-a-year increase in tobacco taxes to pressure smokers to quit, officials said.
The tax increase, which was announced by Maori Party co-leader and Associate Health Minister Tariana Turia, pushed up the price of a pack of 25 cigarettes by 30 percent, or 79 cents, overnight, the Dominion Post of Wellington reported.
Cigarettes will jump $3.59 a pack in 2012 to cost more than $12.
"It's very simple. All smokers who buy tobacco will face the price rises. The more someone smokes, the more they pay, and the bigger the incentive for them to quit," Turia said.
Those smokers trying to sidestep the cigarette tax by rolling their own will find the excise on loose tobacco has been raised by an extra 14 percent, bringing that product into line with manufactured cigarettes, the newspaper said.
Tobacco taxes are expected to raise about $930 million each year, $360 million less than the cost of treating smoking-related illnesses, the Post said.
