I can’t speak for a sugar tax, but if it’s anything like a tobacco tax, the numbers end up being pretty good.
Tobacco taxation according to WHO is not only the most effective but also the most cost effective for enforcement.
Yes, corruption can reduce the positive value of the government revenue, but tobacco taxes are such a windfall that you need Mobutu-level embezzlement for revenue to not make it’s way back to government programs.
A recent success story was Colombia that tripled their tobacco tax over the course of 2 years. Consumption was cut by a third and the revenue doubled the budget of their national health service.
Tobacco taxes (and maybe a sugar tax?) are technically regressive taxes, however the poor disproportionately reap the financial and health benefits because they are the most price sensitive and the ones most targeted by Big Tobacco.
I can’t speak for a sugar tax, but if it’s anything like a tobacco tax, the numbers end up being pretty good.
Tobacco taxation according to WHO is not only the most effective but also the most cost effective for enforcement.
Yes, corruption can reduce the positive value of the government revenue, but tobacco taxes are such a windfall that you need Mobutu-level embezzlement for revenue to not make it’s way back to government programs.
A recent success story was Colombia that tripled their tobacco tax over the course of 2 years. Consumption was cut by a third and the revenue doubled the budget of their national health service.
Tobacco taxes (and maybe a sugar tax?) are technically regressive taxes, however the poor disproportionately reap the financial and health benefits because they are the most price sensitive and the ones most targeted by Big Tobacco.