Pakistan In Focus - ECONOMIC TIMES OF PAKISTAN - Cabinet shoots down 'sin tax' proposal.

The federal cabinet on Thursday rejected a proposal to impose Sin Tax on consumption of tobacco and beverages due to legal and administrative hitches in enforcement of the levy. The Ministry of National Health Services tabled the draft bill, seeking permission to impose Rs10 federal health levy on a 20-stick cigarettes pack and Re1 on 250 milliliter sugar sweetened beverage. The federal health levy has been originally called a "Sin Tax". The cabinet approved an eleven-member board of Sarmaya-e-Pakistan Limited (SPL) company that has been setup to reform dozens of loss making state-owned enterprises by separating them from their parent ministries. The Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry told that the...