Excise taxes on tobacco and alcohol products increased 1 Jan in the first of a series of hikes to raise additional revenue for health care, the Philippines Star reported.

About 70 per cent of the new revenue will come from higher tax on tobacco products. The per-pack tax on cigarettes rose from PHP 2 (EUR 0.04) to PHP 12 for products priced at PHP 11.50 or less. Higher priced cigarettes will be subject to a duty of PHP 25, the newspaper said on its website.
A controversial and lengthy "sin tax" debate ended in December with parliamentary approval of a proposal signed into law by President Benigno Aquino on 20 Dec.
Four categories of cigarette tax were reduced to two under the new system and a single duty of PHP 30 will be applied to all cigarettes beginning in 2017. That duty will increase 4 per cent annually in succeeding years. Fifteen per cent of the incremental revenues will be allocated to programmes benefitting the country’s tobacco farmers, the newspaper reported. (pi)