IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/prg/jnlpep/v2016y2016i4id569p445-458.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of a Fat Tax: Progressive in Health, but Regressive in Income?

Author

Listed:
  • Tatiana Chudá
  • Petr Janský

Abstract

Health-motivated taxes have spread over the world to reduce increasing obesity and corresponding health care costs. These taxes have not yet been implemented in the Czech Republic, in contrast to some other, mainly European countries. However, the introduction of a fat tax has been discussed frequently in the Czech Republic during the last few years; here, we provide empirical evidence in order for this public debate to be better informed. We use detailed microeconomic data to estimate the impact of potential fat taxes on household expenditure and government revenues in the Czech Republic. We evaluate the impact of three types of fat taxes: ad valorem, specific per kilogram of product and specific per kilogram of fat. We simulate these in such a way that they all raise the same budget revenues as a 10% ad valorem tax on fat-rich products. Accounting for higher food expenditures in the aggregate national accounts than in the detailed microeconomic data results into higher budget revenues, 7.3 and 6.1 billion Czech korunas, respectively. Overall we find, and thus confirm the overwhelming evidence from other countries, that fat taxes are regressive in income.

Suggested Citation

  • Tatiana Chudá & Petr Janský, 2016. "The Impact of a Fat Tax: Progressive in Health, but Regressive in Income?," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2016(4), pages 445-458.
    • Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2016:y:2016:i:4:id:569:p:445-458
    DOI: 10.18267/j.pep.569
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://pep.vse.cz/doi/10.18267/j.pep.569.html
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: http://pep.vse.cz/doi/10.18267/j.pep.569.pdf
    Download Restriction: free of charge
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.18267/j.pep.569?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cash, Sean B. & Lacanilao, Ryan D. & Adamowicz, Wiktor L. & Raine, Kim, 2008. "An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Fat Taxes: Prices Effects, Food Stigma, and Information Effects on Economics Instruments to Improve Dietary Health," Consumer and Market Demand Network Papers 45499, University of Alberta, Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology.
    2. Thiele, Silke, 2010. "Fat Tax: A Political Measure To Reduce Overweight? The Case Of Germany," 115th Joint EAAE/AAEA Seminar, September 15-17, 2010, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany 116393, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Petr Janský, 2014. "Consumer Demand System Estimation and Value Added Tax Reforms in the Czech Republic," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 64(3), pages 246-273, June.
    4. Ondřej Schneider, 2004. ": Who Pays Taxes and Who Gets Benefits in the Czech Republic," Working Papers IES 68, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised 2004.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Petr Janský & Klára Kalíšková & Daniel Münich, 2016. "Does the Czech Tax and Benefit System Contribute to One of Europe’s Lowest Levels of Relative Income Poverty and Inequality?," Eastern European Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(3), pages 191-207, May.
    2. Karel Janda & Zuzana Lajksnerová & Jakub Mikolášek, 2019. "A General Equilibrium Model of Optimal Alcohol Taxation in the Czech Republic," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2019(5), pages 589-611.
    3. Rahbauer, S. & Staudigel, M. & Roosen, J., 2018. "Investigating German meat demand for consumer groups with different attitudes and sociodemographic characteristics," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277058, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Martin Guzi, 2014. "An Empirical Analysis of Welfare Dependence in the Czech Republic," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 64(5), pages 407-431, November.
    5. Andrej Cupak & Jan Pokrivcak & Marian Rizov, 2016. "Demand for Food Away from Home in Slovakia," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 66(4), pages 354-369, August.
    6. repec:prg:jnlpep:v:preprint:id:706:p:1-23 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Matěj Bajgar & Petr Janský, 2015. "Skutečná kupní síla v krajích České republiky: zohlednění regionální cenové hladiny a struktury pracovní síly [Purchasing Power in the Regions: Reflecting Price Levels and Employment Structures]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2015(7), pages 860-876.
    8. Javier García-Enríquez & Cruz A. Echevarría, 2018. "Demand for culture in Spain and the 2012 VAT rise," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 42(3), pages 469-506, August.
    9. Wu, Qingchuan & Gong, Yuanyuan & Yan, Zhijuan, 2021. "Whether the policy of RBTVAT has promoted the expansion of UCIBs: Quasi-natural experiment based on new statistical scope data," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    10. Petr Janský, 2014. "Consumer Demand System Estimation and Value Added Tax Reforms in the Czech Republic," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 64(3), pages 246-273, June.
    11. Anna Kowal & Grzegorz Przekota, 2021. "VAT Efficiency—A Discussion on the VAT System in the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-16, April.
    12. Braha, Kushtrim & Cupak, Andrej & Qineti, Artan & Pokrivcak, Jan, 2018. "Food Demand System in Transition Economies: Evidence from Kosovo," 162nd Seminar, April 26-27, 2018, Budapest, Hungary 272050, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Zsombor Cseres-Gergely & Gyorgy Molnar & Tibor Szabo, 2017. "Expenditure responses, policy interventions and heterogeneous welfare effects in Hungary during the 2000s," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1704, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    14. Kamil Dybczak & Peter Tóth & David Voòka, 2014. "Effects of Price Shocks on Consumer Demand: Estimating the QUAIDS Demand System on Czech Household Budget Survey Data," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 64(6), pages 476-500, December.
    15. Kamil Galuscak & Jan Pavel, 2007. "Unemployment and Inactivity Traps in the Czech Republic: Incentive Effects of Policies," Working Papers 2007/9, Czech National Bank.
    16. Kamil Galuscak & Jan Pavel, 2012. "Taxes and Benefits: Work Incentive Effects of Policies," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 62(1), pages 27-43, February.
    17. Petr JANSKÝ, 2016. "Impact of the changes in excise duties on households in the Czech Republic," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 62(2), pages 51-61.
    18. Molnár, György & Cseres-Gergely, Zsombor & Szabó, Tibor, 2016. "Pénzt vagy életet?. Empirikus eredmények néhány gazdaságpolitikai beavatkozás heterogén jóléti hatásairól [For money or for life?. Empirical findings on the heterogenous welfare effects of some eco," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(9), pages 901-943.
    19. Javier García-Enríquez & Cruz A. Echevarría, 2016. "Consistent Estimation of a Censored Demand System and Welfare Analysis: The 2012 VAT Reform in Spain," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(2), pages 324-347, June.
    20. Lapinskas, Arunas & Makhova, Larisa & Haikin, Mark & Troyanskaya, Marija & Mutalimov, Verdi, 2023. "Longevity of EU membership and VAT practices: Dependencies, Contradictions And Implications," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 630-643.
    21. Thomas, Alastair, 2019. "Who Would Win from a Multi-rate GST in New Zealand: Evidence from a QUAIDS Model," Working Paper Series 8127, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    tax policy; obesity; households; health; government revenues; food; fat tax; Czech Republic;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • H20 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2016:y:2016:i:4:id:569:p:445-458. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Stanislav Vojir (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/uevsecz.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.