scholarly journals Limited implementation of the framework convention on tobacco control’s tobacco tax provision: global comparison

BMJ Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. e021340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heikki Hiilamo ◽  
Stanton Glantz

ObjectiveTo quantify changes in tobacco tax rates and cigarette affordability after countries ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) using with the WHO MPOWER standards.MethodsWe used logistic regression to assess the association of FCTC ratification with adoption of at least 50% and 75% (high) of retail price tobacco tax rates for the most sold brands in countries, accounting for years since ratification and other covariates. We also compared cigarette affordability in 2014 with 1999.ResultsBy 2014, 44% of high-income countries had taxes above 75% of retail value compared with 18% in 1998/1999. In 15 years, 69 countries increased the tobacco tax rate, 33 decreased it and one had the same tax rate. FCTC ratification was not associated with implementing high tobacco taxes. More fragile countries in terms of security, political, economic and social development were less likely to have at least 50% and 75% tobacco tax rates in 2014 compared with 1999. The higher the cigarette prices in 1999 the less likely the countries were to have at least 75% tobacco tax rates in 2014. However, cigarettes were less affordable in 2014 than in 1999 in countries that had ratified FCTC earlier.ConclusionsDespite widespread FCTC ratification, implementing higher tobacco taxes remains incomplete. Guidelines for FCTC Article 6 implementation should assign definite targets for tobacco taxes and for implementation of a tax escalator that gradually increases taxes to match rising income levels. Fragile countries are less likely to have high tobacco taxes and less affordable cigarettes. The tobacco control community should intensify efforts to help fragile countries improve performance in FCTC implementation both through strengthening their administrative and technical capacity and through supporting basic functions of government.

2022 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2021-056879
Author(s):  
Marko Vladisavljevic ◽  
Jovan Zubović ◽  
Olivera Jovanovic ◽  
Mihajlo Djukic ◽  
Natasa Trajkova Najdovska ◽  
...  

Background and objectiveTobacco tax evasion undermines the goal of tobacco taxes as a tobacco control measure to make tobacco products less affordable, increases the health risks for those who smoke and decreases the government revenue. This paper analyses the tobacco tax evasion in six Western Balkan (WB) countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The aim of this research is to estimate the size of the illicit market and identify the main determinants of tax evasion activities in the Southeastern European region.Data and methodsData from 2019 Survey on Tobacco Consumption in Southeastern Europe (STC-SEE) are used. STC-SEE provides uniquely comparable nationally representative data on smoking behaviour for adult (18–85 years old) population for each country. Tax evasion is defined on the basis of available information on tax stamps, health warnings, price and the place of purchase, in accordance with the previous research on tax evasion. In order to estimate the determinants of illicit purchases we use binary choice model of tax evasion.ResultsThe study finds that 20.4% of all current smokers in WB countries evade taxes on tobacco products, with evasion being much more frequent for hand-rolled (HR) tobacco (86.7%) than for the manufactured cigarettes (MC) (8.6%). While HR is predominantly illicit in all six countries, MC evasion varies significantly, with evasion being significantly higher in Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Results further suggest that tax evasion is higher in the statistical regions where institutional capacities to tackle illicit trade are lower, in municipalities bordering countries with high MC evasion, as well as among smokers with low income, women and elderly. We also provide evidence that higher tobacco taxes and prices do not increase illicit consumption.ConclusionThe findings from the research suggest that in order to decrease tax evasion, governments should put additional effort to strengthen institutional capacities to tackle illicit tobacco markets. Furthermore, improving regional coordination in development and implementation of tobacco control policies, including the prevention of illicit market, is essential in lowering evasion in all WB countries. Finally, WB countries should regulate and enforce excise tax stamp requirements on the HR tobacco market to a much higher degree.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 558-561 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petr David

BackgroundTobacco tax rates set by various governments are not based on the idea that tax receipts should cover the costs incurred by smoking. It can be assumed that tobacco tax receipts (TTR) differ from the costs of smoking. The aim is to determine the global basic economic gap (BEG) between TTR and the economic costs of smoking-attributable diseases (ECS).MethodsBEG is described as the difference between the ECS and TTR. A total of 124 countries representing 94% of global tobacco consumption were included in the research by means of the creation of a database, the adjustment of input data and the identification of their intersection.ResultsThe global BEG reaches US$1438 billion per year. The global ECS are US$1911 billion per year. The global TTR are US$473 billion per year and compensate for only one quarter of the ECS. Within countries with the highest consumption of cigarettes, especially the USA but also Russia and Germany, the proportion of the ECS covered by the TTR is even lower, although private health expenditures have been taken into account.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that tobacco taxes would have to be globally increased by more than four times on average in order to cover the ECS or between two and two-and-a-half times if we take private health expenditures into account. The informational pressure concerning health risks associated with smoking aimed at reducing harmful consumption and improving global health can also be supported with these economic facts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1297-1314
Author(s):  
T.A. Loginova

Subject. This article discusses the issues related to the taxation for multi-component complex ores and commercial components using ad valorem and specific mineral extraction tax (MET) rates. Objectives. The article aims to assess some results of the application of specific MET rates in the Krasnoyarsk Krai and ad valorem rates in other subjects of the Russian Federation, taking into account the specifics of the current taxation procedure for multi-component complex ores and their commercial components. Methods. For the study, I used a comparative analysis, synthesis, and the method of extrapolation. Results. The article shows that the change in the type of MET rate for multi-component complex ores and commercial components has led to a significant increase in the effective tax rate. This led to an increase in the corresponding MET revenues in the Krasnoyarsk Krai. The article also substantiates that the introduction of specific rates in other Russian regions requires a significant differentiation of specific MET rates. However, this is risk-bearing concerning unfair distribution of the tax burden and the complexity of tax administration. Conclusions. The issue of identifying multi-component complex ores and their commercial components is controversial. Extending specific MET rates to other regions may complicate the mechanism of rent extraction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Todd DeZoort ◽  
Troy J. Pollard ◽  
Edward J. Schnee

SYNOPSIS U.S. corporations have the ability to avoid paying domestic taxes to achieve an effective tax rate that is much lower than the statutory federal tax rate. This study evaluates the extent that individuals differ in their attitudes about the ethicality of corporations avoiding domestic taxes to achieve low effective tax rates. We also examine the extent to which the specific tax avoidance method used by corporations to access a low effective tax rate affects perceived ethicality. Eighty-two members of the general public and 112 accountants participated in an experiment with two participant groups and three tax avoidance methods manipulated randomly between subjects. The results indicate a significant interaction between participant group and tax avoidance method, with the general public considering shifting profits out of the country to achieve a low effective tax rate to be highly unethical, while the accountants find tax avoidance from carrying forward prior operating losses to be highly ethical. Further, mediation analysis indicates that perceived fairness and legality mediate the effects of participant type on perceived ethicality. Mediation analysis also reveals that sense of fairness and legality mediate the link between tax avoidance method and perceived ethicality. We conclude by considering the study's policy, practice, and research implications.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth J. Klassen ◽  
Stacie K. Laplante ◽  
Carla Carnaghan

ABSTRACT: This manuscript develops an investment model that incorporates the joint consideration of income shifting by multinational parents to or from a foreign subsidiary and the decision to repatriate or reinvest foreign earnings. The model demonstrates that, while there is always an incentive to shift income into the U.S. from high-foreign-tax-rate subsidiaries, income shifting out of the U.S. to low-tax-rate countries occurs only under certain conditions. The model explicitly shows how the firms' required rate of return for foreign investments affects both repatriation and income shifting decisions. We show how the model can be used to refine extant research. We then apply it to a novel setting—using e-commerce for tax planning. We find firms in manufacturing industries with high levels of e-commerce have economically significant lower cash effective tax rates. This effect is magnified for firms that are less likely to have taxable repatriations. JEL Classifications: G38, H25, H32, M41.


Author(s):  
Johan Lundberg

AbstractTheories of inter-jurisdictional tax and yardstick competition assume that the tax decisions of one jurisdiction will influence the tax decisions of other jurisdictions. This paper empirically addresses the issue of horizontal dependence in local personal income tax rates across jurisdictions. Based on a large data set covering Swedish municipalities over a period of 14 years, we test for interactions across municipalities that share a common border, across municipalities within a distance of 100 km of each other, and across municipalities with similar political representation in the local council. We also test the hypothesis that the tax rate of relatively larger municipalities has a greater influence on their neighbors' tax rate compared to the influence of their smaller neighbors. Our results suggest that when lagged tax rates are controlled for, the horizontal correlation across municipalities that share a common border or are within a distance of 100 km from each other becomes insignificant. This result is of importance as it suggests that lagged tax rates should be included or at least tested for when testing for horizontal interactions or mimicking in local tax rates. However, our results support the hypothesis of horizontal interactions across municipalities that share a common border when the influence of neighboring municipalities is also weighted by their relative population size, i.e. relatively larger neighbors tend to have a greater impact on their neighbor's tax rates than their relatively smaller neighbors. This is of importance as it suggests that distance or proximity matters, although only in combination with the relative population size. We also find some evidence of horizontal dependence across municipalities with similar political preferences.


2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davidson Sinclair ◽  
Larry Li

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Chinese firms’ ownership structure is related to their effective tax rate. The People’s Republic of China provides an interesting environment to examine the corporate income tax. Government has significant ownership stakes in the for-profit economy and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are liable to the corporate income tax. This is very different to most other economies where SOE tends to dominate the not-for-profit economy and pays no corporate income tax. Government ownership also varies between the central government and local government in addition to state asset management bureaus. This provides a rich institutional background to examining the corporate income tax. Design/methodology/approach A panel data analysis approach is used to examine relationship between ownership structure and effective tax rates of all public firms in China from 1999 to 2009. Findings The authors report that effective tax rates do appear to vary across the ownership types, but that SOEs pay a statistically higher effective tax rate than to non-state-owned. In addition, local government owned SOE pay higher effective tax rates than central government and SAMB owned SOE. The authors also investigate Zimmerman’s (1983) political cost hypothesis. Unfortunately, these results are econometrically fragile with the statistical significance of those results varying by empirical technique. Originality/value This paper provides insight into government ownership and taxation in China.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 295-299
Author(s):  
Lian He ◽  
Xiaoxin Chen ◽  
Chunzi Shao

Objectives: Tobacco control measures can be divided into three types: regulatory, economic, and informational respectively. This paper focuses on the role and effect of different types of tobacco control measures during the epidemic prevention and control period in China. Conclusion: Firstly, as strong and powerful measures, economic measures can significantly reduce cigarette sales in the short term. However, the Chinese government did not adjust the cigarette consumption-tax rate during the period. Economic measures thus did not play an important role. Secondly, Due to few people in public places and workplaces, regulatory measures were "out of effect" in a short term. Therefore, there were insufficient evidence to find out whether regulatory measures are effective or not. Finally, China's tobacco production increased slightly during this period. This reflected that informational measures did not play an effective role.


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