Letter to the Select and Standing Portfolio Committees on Finance

Corné van Walbeek and Sam Filby recently made a submission to the Select and Standing Portfolio Committees on Finance. Their letter addressed the tobacco excise tax increases laid out in the 24 February 2021 Budget speech.

Prof. van Walbeek, Director of REEP, comments in the document that the Unit's research has shown that the illicit cigarette market has been problematic for many years, and that the increase in excise tax on tobacco products by 8% (substantially more than the predicted inflation rate of 4.2%) is particularly gratifying.

They also emphasise that the primary cause of illicit trade in South Africa is not the increase in the excise tax, as this committee has indicated previously, but poor enforcement. 

To read the letter in full, please click here.