Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Pakhtunkhwa, has expressed his disapproval of the notion of taxing Naswar in the next province budget. However no decision has been made.
A proposal to tax Naswar was made during a recent meeting of the KP cabinet, which was presided over by Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, to approve plans for the 2024 budget.
Gandapur, on the other hand, was against the notion, pointing out that Naswar is mostly utilized by the underprivileged and shouldn’t be taxed in the next budget.
Recall that the province-wide tobacco and naswar (snuff) taxes were raised by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Naswar was taxed at Rs. 5 per kg, whereas tobacco was taxed up to Rs. 12 per kg.
Naswar, according to a research in the Oxford Journal of Public Health, is a kind of smokeless tobacco made of indigo, slaked lime, and tobacco powder.
