KUALA LUMPUR — The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) has called on the Finance Ministry to raise the sales tax on cigarettes in Budget 2027 as part of efforts to curb smoking among young people.
CAP senior education officer N.V. Subbarow said recent statistics showed that 43,019 secondary school students and 341 primary school students had been identified as smokers, Bernama reported.
He said smokers also spent nearly RM700 a month on cigarettes, which contain about 6,000 chemicals.
“Higher prices make tobacco products less affordable, which would reduce overall consumption and encourage users to quit or cut down on smoking.
“It would also make it more difficult for teenagers and young people to start smoking. Therefore, CAP believes that the time has come to impose a mandatory sales tax on cigarettes,” he said in a statement today.
Subbarow, who is also an anti-smoking activist, said raising the sales tax could help reduce government expenditure on treating smoking-related illnesses, which he estimated at an average of RM16 billion annually.
He said the World Health Organisation recommends price and tax measures as an effective tool to reduce tobacco consumption, adding that such policies had produced positive results in several countries.
Budget 2027 is scheduled to be tabled by Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Oct 9. — September 20, 2026