KINIBIZTiger has many fond memories of hunting, from tracking to chasing and devouring his prey. But Tiger has always wondered at the hunters in the police force, and how they are going around hunting the wrong prey.

With all the hikes in taxes for cigarettes and beer, Tiger really thinks the government of the two-legs are chasing the target from upwind instead of downwind. Tiger appreciates their initiative to try to reduce the habit among Malaysians, and see their plan to increase government revenue, but aren’t they going about it the wrong way? If the excise duty (whatever it is, Tiger doesn’t think it’s edible) increases, companies are only going to pass it on to their consumers.

Even if the companies absorb the costs themselves (at the thought, Tiger snorts derisively), they will suffer a painful loss of profit. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t. Deciding whether to raise their prices or absorb it themselves is just a matter of picking the lesser evil, because volume is going to drop anyway.

If the companies raise their prices, they would lose some of their consumer base to the illicit trade, due to the lower prices offered by the contraband variants. On the other hand, if they absorb the excise duty hike, their profit margin would decrease.

With that in mind, breweries in Malaysia are still waiting with bated breath for the announcement of the duty hike for beer. Personally, Tiger thinks that they have dodged the hunter for too long, considering the excise duty on beer has not been increased for the past seven years.

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This article was written by Xavier Kong.