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The Australian government has slashed the Arrivals duty free tobacco allowance from 50 sticks to 25, effective 1 July 2017.
The move, effective from 1 July 2017, comes nearly five years after the allowance was cut from 250 sticks to 50 – a reduction that had a severe impact not only on Australian duty free retailers but also to those overseas selling to Australia-bound passengers.
The halved allowance is one of a range of anti-tobacco measures controlled in 2016-17 budget announced this week.
The Government will increase tobacco excise and excise equivalent customs duties through four annual increases of 12.5% per year from 2017 until 2020. The increases will take place on 1 September each year and will be in addition to existing indexation to average weekly ordinary time earnings.
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How the Australian government plans to raise revenue from more punitive tobacco excises and combat illicit tobacco |
In conjunction with the changes to excise and the duty free limit, the Government will also strengthen its regulatory and enforcement response to illicit tobacco by providing A$7.7 million over two years to expand the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s ‘Tobacco Strike Team’.
The Government will also reform the Customs Act and Excise Act to provide enforcement officers with access to tiered offences and appropriate penalties, increasing the range of enforcement options available for illicit tobacco offences.
