By Janet Hoek, J. Robert Branston and Philip Gendall* of
Photo: David Hallett
Until recently, Aotearoa New Zealand led global tobacco control innovation. Evidence-based policies, including sustained tobacco excise tax increases, saw large reductions in smoking rates, which will save thousands of lives.
Yet duty-free tobacco sales remain a curious anomaly and contradict efforts to reduce smoking prevalence.
At international airports and duty-free stores throughout the country, travellers can still buy cigarettes and roll-your-own tobacco without paying the excise tax or GST applied at domestic retail outlets.
Cheap duty-free sales of tobacco products not only deprive the public purse of millions of dollars, they undermine efforts to become a smoke-free nation.
Excise
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