SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) – After cigarette prices were raised in 2015, consumers are now purchasing tobacco products directly from foreign countries. According to data from the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs, 21,869 parcels containing cigarettes were imposed duties from January to July 2015, which translates to approximately 3,124 parcels per month. The [...]
SEOUL, Jan.29 (Korea Bizwire) – According to a report from the Joongang Ilbo, a Korean daily journal, the main beneficiaries of higher cigarette prices have turned out to be foreign tobacco companies. Despite a rise in prices at the beginning of 2015, cigarette imports have actually increased. Smokers returned to their addiction soon after the [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s tax revenue rose sharply on-year in the first 11 months of 2015 thanks to higher cigarette prices and increased real estate transactions, the finance ministry said Tuesday. In the January-November period, the government collected some 206.2 trillion won (US$171 billion) in taxes, up 16.8 trillion won from [...]
SEJONG, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s tobacco tax revenue shot up more than 50 percent in 2015 from a year earlier on a spike in cigarette prices, despite weaker sales, the finance ministry said Thursday. The cigarette tax revenue reached 10.5 trillion won (US$8.7 billion) last year, up 51.4 percent from 7 trillion [...]
SEOUL, Nov.27 (Korea Bizwire) – The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has opened a research center to study the ingredients in cigarettes, their addictiveness and their risk on health. Located at the KCDC complex in Osong, Chungbuk Province, the research center will analyze the components of cigarettes and their fumes, usage among [...]
DAEJEON, Oct. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – As the interest in vape pens is increasing, due to increases in the cigarette prices and the expansion of no-smoking areas, the number of patent applications related to vape pens is rising. According to the Korean Intellectual Property Office, there were 381 patents related to vape pens issued over [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – A spike in local cigarette taxes is expected to push up the amount of next year’s tobacco tax revenue on par with what the government receives from salaried workers, a local civic group claimed Monday. According to the Korea Taxpayers Association, cigarette tax revenue is estimated to top 12.6 [...]
SEJONG, June 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s cigarette tax revenue jumped in the first five months of 2015 from a year earlier due mainly to a tax hike, government data showed Wednesday. Starting this year, the tax levied on a pack of cigarettes rose by 2,000 won (US$1.79), raising the average price per pack [...]
CHUNCHEON, May 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Four white collar workers have been arrested by the police on charges of buying and selling 100 million won (US$ 92,500) worth of cigarettes to benefit from Korea’s tobacco price hikes. According to the Chuncheon Police Agency, the four men were working at the same company, and gathered 100 [...]
BUSAN, Apr. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The city of Busan is expecting an additional 218.35 billion won (US$ 201.47 million) for its estimated 2014 tax revenues, due to an increase in cigarette tax revenues caused by citizens’ buying spree before the New Year’s cigarette price hike, even though Busan’s population of non-smokers has since increased. According [...]