Tobacco giant Philip Morris is facing an eye-watering $2.2 billion fine if found guilty of dodging tax on cigarette imports to Thailand, prosecutors said on Tuesday.The allegations are part of a long simmering tax dispute between the kingdom and the local unit of the tobacco company, which has also clashed with authorities over plans to increase the size of health warnings on cigarette packets.Thai prosecutors say Philip Morris, which owns the Marlboro and L&M brands, avoided around 20 billion baht ($551.27 million) tax by under declaring import prices for cigarettes from the Philippines between 2003 and 2006."Philip Morris as a corporation, as well as seven Thais, were indicted yesterday on custom tax evasion," Somnuk Siengkong, a spokesman for Thailand's Office of the Attorney General told reporters on Tuesday.Chartpong Chirabandhu, deputy director general of the office's special litigation department, said a court could impose a fine of up to 80 billion baht ($2.2 billion) if the company was found guilty.Four foreign executives at the company have also been charged but are outside the country, prosecutors added.Philip Morris Thailand Limited described the charges as "unjust" and vowed to fight them
Retrieved 13 June 2012
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Reducing smoking rates would improve state health metrics, he argued, in turn reducing health care costs for employers a big target this session
