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Australia has taxed cigarettes so much that a thriving black market has started that nobody seems interested in policing. Alcohol appears to be going in the sa
by Rodeoclash 1y ago
Australia has taxed cigarettes so much that a thriving black market has started that nobody seems interested in policing.
Alcohol appears to be going in the same direction.
- StopDisinfo910 1y agoEasy, don't tax so much that it becomes ineffective. There is a sweet spot to find. Honestly, I dislike smoking as much as anyone else but I frankly oppose the way Australia is taxing cigarettes and alcohol. These are sin taxes. They are high to deter people from doing things they want to do. That's overreach. Taxes should aim to cover externalities. That's fair. Your choice forces a burden on the collectivity which it's trying to recoup. Above that, that's just coercion and paternalism. Plus it disproportionally affects the poor but I guess the moral police pushing for this kind of taxes sees that as a benefit.
- philipallstar 1y agoIf your citizens are hooked on an addictive product, you can jack up the taxes.
- eru 1y agoPlease check the earlier posts in the discussion you are commenting on. Even if you have the most addictive substance on the planet, the black market puts an upper bound on how much you can tax it.
- philipallstar 1y agoI'm not saying it doesn't. I'm saying the motivation isn't moral.
- eru 1y agoHave a look at the earlier discussion. Plenty of people have moral motivations, hence the call for banning, rather than taxing. Moral in this case means: "I know better what's good for poor people than they do".
- potato3732842 1y ago>Easy, don't tax so much that it becomes ineffective. There is a sweet spot to find. The taxation level that maximizes revenue or minimizes harmful noncompliance never satisfies the moralizing people who wanted the thing you're discussing (whatever it is) punitively taxed in the first place.