INTRODUCTION Excessive alcohol consumption is a public health problem in many countries including Denmark, where 6% of the burden of disease is due to alcohol consumption, according to the new estimates from the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study. Pricing policies, including tax increases, have been shown to effectively decrease the level of alcohol consumption. METHODS We analysed the cost-...

Chapter Outline Designing Broad-Based Taxes: The Economic Objectives 171 Ability to Pay: Theoretical Considerations 173 Two Preliminary Considerations 173 Horizontal Equity 174 From Horizontal Equity to the Ideal Tax Base 174 The Three Principles of Tax Design 174 People Bear the Tax Burden 174 Individuals Sacrifice Utility 174 The Ideal Tax Base as the Best Surrogate Measure of Utility 175 Hai...

BACKGROUND The distribution of cigarette prices has rarely been studied and compared under different tax structures. Descriptive evidence on price distributions by countries can shed light on opportunities for tax avoidance and brand switching under different tobacco tax structures, which could impact the effectiveness of increased taxation in reducing smoking. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to de...

broadly during the 1930s depression and At least seven states have acted within was imposed mostly on goods. Administhe past three years to selectively tax intrative ease of collecting the tax, and podividual services under the sales tax, and litical advantage led to retailers rather at least ten states have given serious conthan individuals remitting the tax. Over sideration to major base refo...

In a standard model of the intertemporal labour supply/consumption/saving decision, with weak separability between consumption and leisure in each period; identical preferences across households; and a Mirrlees optimal nonlinear tax on labour earnings; the Atkinson-Stiglitz Theorem (AS) implies that there is no case for taxing future consumption and therefore the return to saving. An extension ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the potential health benefits and cost savings of an alcohol tax rate that applies equally to all alcoholic beverages based on their alcohol content (volumetric tax) and to compare the cost savings with the cost of implementation. DESIGN AND SETTING Mathematical modelling of three scenarios of volumetric alcohol taxation for the population of Australia: (i) no change in ...

The imposition of taxes on specific consumption goods and services (i.e. excise taxes) not only is a time-honoured activity but also makes common sense: government financing can be combined with other important social goals, in particular the reduction of externalities (costs imposed on other people) by making the taxed goods more expensive. Thus two goals can be attained at the same time, whic...