SOS - Save Our Stores - Convenience Store Coalition Critical of Provincial Budget Tobacco Tax Hike

TORONTO, March 29, 2018 /CNW/ - Ontario's independent convenience store owners expressed disappointment today that the Ontario government will carry through with a previous budget pledge to hike tobacco taxes by $4 per carton of cigarettes.   

"Our members are deeply disappointed in the Ontario government's decision to raise tobacco taxes once again – especially in light of the escalating problem of contraband tobacco in our province," says Don Cha, General Manager of the Ontario Korean Businessmen's Association (OKBA), the largest organization of independent convenience stores in the province.

The group spearheaded a provincial convenience store owners' coalition last August named SOS for "Save our Stores". The store owners' coalition has been calling for the government to solve the problem of illegal contraband tobacco before increasing tobacco taxes further. Contraband tobacco robs licensed retailers and costs the Ontario and federal governments more than $1 Billion annually in lost tax revenue. A study conducted on behalf of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) and released in November 2017 showed that nearly one in four Ontario consumers is now smoking contraband tobacco – a 67% increase in the past four years.

According to Cha, the significant tax increase will drive even more consumers toward the illegal black market of unregulated and untaxed tobacco. To back up his claim, Cha cited Fred O'Riordan, the tax policy leader at Ernst & Young and a former director-general of excise duties and taxes at the Canada Revenue Agency, who noted that "sharp spikes in legal prices appear to influence smokers' propensity to switch to contraband". Says Cha: "There is a growing body of evidence that increasing tobacco taxes is just bad policy. The Ontario government either isn't listening or doesn't care." 

Adds Cha: "For years, we sat back and hoped government would do the right thing. But nothing has changed and our ability to keep our stores open for business is increasingly threatened. We can't afford another four years of destructive policies affecting our businesses. We will make our voices heard on Election Day this June."

To learn more, please visit: http://www.saveourstores.ca/home/

SOURCE Ontario Korean Businessmen's Association

Peter Seemann, [email protected], Mobile: [phone]