You’ll be burning through $1 every time you light up a cigarette. New taxes that came into effect this week will bring the average packet of 20 cigarettes to $20, making the habit even more expensive.

The new tax will add between $1.12 and $2.81 to the price of a packet, a 12.5 per cent tax rise.

It is the second of four tax increases that were announced by the Labor government mid last year. Smokers will have to get used to paying more for their cigarettes as the price will go up again in September next year and in September 2016.

For smokers, the tax hike will come as a bitter pill, but for those hoping to stop, the price difference might be one of the best incentives to quit.

It worked for Neos Kosmos’ own Babis Stavropoulos, who has decided to cut the decade-long habit thanks to the tax hike and lifestyle reasons.

“I wanted to quit for two reasons,” he says.

“One because my partner was unhappy about the smell, and two because I pay so much in tax.

“I pay $3,000 in tax, it’s ridiculous.”

It’s been 13 years since Mr Stavropoulos has attempted to quit, and has gone cold turkey to cut the habit.

It will now cost around $7,280 a year to smoke a pack a day, money that can go to very useful places for the Greek Australian community.

A couple can buy airfares and accommodation for a holiday in Greece every year. It could contribute to a deposit for a house for young Greek Australians or it might be an extra coffee or cake a day at the cafenio for pensioners.

Quit Victoria’s Luke Atkin says calls to Quitline have increased since the tax introduction.

He believes the tax increase will be one of the best ways to promote the need to quit.

“Increasing taxes on tobacco is one of the most effective things the government can do to cut smoking rates,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“It does hit people in the hip pocket, it make them rethink their tobacco use and I think it’s one of the things that makes people go, ‘do I really need to be doing this? Because I’m now spending significant amounts of money on my tobacco use’.”

Multicultural communities will be forced to reassess their smoking habits and hopefully lead a shift to de-normalising the behaviour in the community.

Cultural ties to smoking have seen many Greeks pick up the habit, but over the years the habit has fallen out of favour.

“Raising awareness around health impacts, increasing costs, as well as things like changing environment, increasing the number of smoke free environments, making people not be able to smoke inside restaurants, in bars, things like that, they are the things that make people rethink people’s smoking behaviour,” Mr Atkin says.

Luckily, general smoking rates are at the lowest they’ve ever been in Australia.

New data by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed that only 12.8 per cent of Australians aged 14 and over smoked daily in 2013.

Australians who smoke dropped by 15 per cent since 2010.

For people speaking a language other than English at home, only 9.2 per cent smoked daily in 2010.

Mr Atkin says the figures show that people are looking at ways to stop smoking.

“It enforces the fact that we know most smokers do actually want to give up,” he says.

“It pushes people to make another quit attempt.”

Of those who do cut smoking, they will start seeing benefits from day one.

After one day of not smoking, most of the nicotine is cleared from your body and your blood pressure and heart rate drop towards normal levels.

After a month, your lungs are working more efficiently, exercising is easier and your immune system is starting to recover.

For those needing more assistance, the government has also introduced nicotine patches on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, meaning smokers who go to their doctors and obtain a prescription will save more than $25 in purchasing their nicotine replacement therapies.

Those wanting to quit should visit their doctor and can free call Quitline on 137848. Translation services are available.