Increase in Hong Kong's Tobacco Tax becoming Law.

Hong Kong Smokers lived in hope that the rise in tobacco tax would be overturned.

Smoking can damage your health and pocket

 

A few months have passed since the Government increased the tax of cigarettes that came in to effect immediately. This was quite massive tax hike of 41%  which saw the price rise to HK$50 for a packet of twenty cigarettes. %70 of that price is now Tax.

June, saw the Legislative Council finally pass the legislation and there is now going back now. I caught some of the debate but got totally lost when member Leung Kwok-hung, the otherwise known as "LongHair", invited the whole council to visit Bhutan.

As a smoker myself, I always feel a little bit persecuted for my pleasure. Like many other smokers in Hong Kong the rise seems unfair when. This will no doubt cause hardship among many elderly and those with low paid jobs.