Associate Health Minister Casey Costello Photo: NZ HeraldHealth experts are outraged at the associate minister's proposal to bring in a three-year freeze on tobacco excise tax. The minister, Casey Costello, of NZ First sought advice on a three-year freeze on the inflation-adjusted tax on smoking tobacco products. A freeze on the excise tax would mean the price of smoking tobacco products would not be increased based on inflation for three years. "Given the finance minister has stated last year that tobacco tax is an important revenue, it seems odd that a freeze on excise tax would be on the table." Costello has also proposed removing the excise tax from smokeless tobacco products, where the tobacco is heated to a vapour rather than burned.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 25, 2024 23:37 UTC