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Tobacco taxation in the European Union

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  • Sijbren Cnossen

Abstract

Later this year, the European Commission has to submit a report to the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament with its views on tobacco tax policy in the EU. A 2004 publication issued by the Commission expressed the beliefs that tobacco consumption should be controlled by increasing tobacco excises and that harmonisation should proceed on the basis of specific rates. This paper reviews and evaluates EU tobacco tax policies. It supports the move towards specific taxation, but notes that there are conceptual and empirical limits to excessively high tobacco taxes. Smokers appear to pay their way and cigarette smuggling is a growing menace to health and revenue objectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Sijbren Cnossen, 2006. "Tobacco taxation in the European Union," CPB Discussion Paper 67, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpb:discus:67
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Donald A. P. Bundy & Nilanthi de Silva & Susan Horton & Dean T. Jamison & George C. Patton, 2017. "Disease Control Priorities, Third Edition," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 28876, December.
    3. Thomas Y. Mathä & Alessandro Porpiglia & Michael Ziegelmeyer, 2017. "Cross-border commuting and consuming: an empirical investigation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(20), pages 2011-2026, April.
    4. Richard M. Bird, 2018. "Are global taxes feasible?," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 25(5), pages 1372-1400, October.
    5. Haavio, Markus & Kotakorpi, Kaisa, 2011. "The political economy of sin taxes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 55(4), pages 575-594, May.
    6. Christian Ben Lakhdar & Nicolas Gérard Vaillant & François-Charles Wolff, 2016. "Does smoke cross the border? Cigarette tax avoidance in France," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 17(9), pages 1073-1089, December.
    7. Carlo Ciccarelli & Gianni De Fraja & Silvia Tiezzi, 2021. "How hard is it to maximize profit? Evidence from a 19th-century Italian state monopoly [Estimation and hypothesis testing in dynamic singular equation systems]," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 73(2), pages 879-902.
    8. Di Novi, Cinzia & Marenzi, Anna, 2019. "The smoking epidemic across generations, genders, and educational groups: A matter of diffusion of innovations," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 155-168.
    9. Keuschnigg, Christian & Loretz, Simon & Winner, Hannes, 2014. "Tax Competition and Tax Coordination in the European Union: A Survey," Working Papers in Economics 2014-4, University of Salzburg.
    10. Odermatt, Reto & Stutzer, Alois, 2018. "Tobacco Control Policies and Smoking Behavior in Europe: More Than Trends?," Working papers 2018/24, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    11. Bas Jacobs, 2013. "From Optimal Tax Theory to Applied Tax Policy," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 69(3), pages 338-389, September.
    12. Hiroaki Yamagami, 2009. "Health Effects, Tax Deductions for Medical Expenditure, and the Double Dividend," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 65(1), pages 105-121, March.
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    14. Dinka Antic, 2015. "Implications of the taxation of tobacco in the European Union in the period 2005-2014," Financial Theory and Practice, Institute of Public Finance, vol. 39(3), pages 279-304.
    15. Odermatt, Reto & Stutzer, Alois, 2015. "Smoking bans, cigarette prices and life satisfaction," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 176-194.
    16. Peter Schwarz, 2009. "Optionen einer rationalen Regulierung des Tabakkonsums: Die Vorteile eines liberalen Paternalismus," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 10(2), pages 235-251, May.
    17. Michele Santoni, 2017. "Protective Excise Taxation," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 421-445, December.
    18. A. Sokolovska, L. Rainova, 2017. "Harmonization of excise tax on tobacco products," Economy and Forecasting, Valeriy Heyets, issue 2, pages 93-115.
    19. Sijbren Cnossen, 2006. "Alcohol taxation and regulation in the European Union," CPB Discussion Paper 76.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    20. Ramboll, 2014. "Study on the measuring and reducing of administrative costs for economic operators and tax authorities and obtaining in parallel a higher level of compliance and security in imposing excise duties on ," Taxation Studies 0048, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    21. Sijbren Cnossen & D. Forrest & S. Smith, 2009. "Taxation and regulation of smoking, drinking and gambling in the European Union," CPB Special Publication 76.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

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    JEL classification:

    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
    • H8 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues

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