He told, currently, the government spends a mere 0.6pc of GDP on health. It has been suggested several times in the past that sin taxes be imposed on products that cause health-related issues as a result of which the state pays heavy penalties in the shape of healthcare spending and lowered human productivity.
“A sin tax is an internationally recognised term and is specifically levied on certain goods deemed harmful to society, for example tobacco, candies, soft drinks, fast foods, coffee and sugar,” he said.
“The United States charges about $1.5 (approximately Rs200) per pack of cigarettes, while the UK charges 40 pence (around Rs100) per litre of sugary beverages as sin tax. Thailand, as well as a number of other countries, has similar taxes that are earmarked for healthcare services.”
Dr Hafeez explained that India imposes a sin tax on gutka and paan masala, and the sums thus collected are spent on the healthcare sector.
“We have not yet decided on the exact amount for a sin tax [in Pakistan],” he clarified, “but it will certainly be a handsome sum.
Because of the new tax, the price of cigarettes will increase, making it more difficult for young people to buy them. Some 1,500 youngsters start smoking in Pakistan every day, and we want to reduce that number.”
After this announcement, many smokers expressed their views on social media regarding Sin tax, but sin tax is not a term coined by the PTI-led government.
In this regard federal minister for water resources Faisal Vawda has also taken the micro blogging website twitter to criticize the sin tax.
"I’m a chain cigarette smoker myself and I appreciate all the measures taken by the government to discourage smoking and I understand it’s injurious to health but this term “Gunnah Tax” is inappropriate. If this is gunnah then what would we name and term the actual gunnahs." federal minister tweete
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