...“Sin Tax” and Healthcare March 2, 2015 “Sin Tax” and Healthcare Due to rising costs in healthcare, the U.S. Government is faced with the task of finding new ways to generate much needed revenue to cover healthcare expenses. One way of generating this revenue is by increasing taxes on items and activities that are considered to be “unhealthy,” like alcohol, tobacco, and legalized marijuana, in the form of “sin taxes.” Generating revenue through this form is considered to be a “win-win” because of the revenue generated and the cutback on “unhealthy” activities. Although, increasing “sin taxes” on these items may seem like a great idea, research has led me to believe that such increases might not be enough to solve the revenue shortage, and could be detrimental to the financial and physical welfare of low-income families. When considering the question if increasing “sin taxes” is the best solution to help fund the rising costs of healthcare, the moral issue is important to consider. Though, drinking and smoking are a personal choice, the effects associated with such activities can impact society as a whole. Such effects include diseases as a result of second-hand smoke, alcohol-related traffic accidents, and negative activity brought on by addiction. The preamble to our Constitution states that our government has an obligation to “promote the general welfare.” Therefore, the government has a responsibility to intervene on the public’s behalf in response...
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...Ongcoy, Mergilyn Panta, Renelyn Despite of the many evidences that support the topic, there are negative feedbacks that oppose the advantages of increasing the sin tax for tobacco and alcohol. One disadvantage of increasing sin taxes of tobacco and alcohol is that it decreases the income of the tobacco farmers. There are a lot of arguments from social media and newspapers regarding the consuming of cigarettes and alcohols. However, according to Bordadora (2012), tobacco farmers will be affected because of the increase in prices. They will lose their job and decreased their income which will decrease their productivity level (Bongosia, retrieved 2015). This argument shows that if company suppliers of these products increase the price due to...
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...Research on the Topic Sin Taxes Name Institution Introduction It is undeniable fact that the issue of sin taxes existed long before the last financial crisis that hit the globe in the year 2008. The current global situation faced with challenges of health and financial crises, sin taxes are designed to maximize government expenditures with less loss and to reduce or regulate undesirable behaviors considered harmful to the society. The proposed sin taxes by various governments globally aim products such alcohol beverages, bullets, sugary soft drinks, fatty snacks, and gasoline among other products (Black & Mohamed, 2006). Therefore, this research will analyze in detail the importance of sin taxing to various commodities with the core aims of promoting healthy lifestyles, improving society health outcomes, reducing government expenditure, and enhancing environmental sustainability. The success of this research is highly dependable on the use of varied research articles, journals, and textbooks. Cumulatively, the research will illuminate light on the different benefits associated with the sin taxes. Sin taxes discourages people from adopting unhealthy behaviors (Reiter, 1995). The taxes are designed with the core aim of raising prices of the sinful goods to make people opt for healthier goods. However, this do not happen in accordance with the expectations since increasing the taxes on the sinful good leads to people substituting it with...
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...Tobacco and Why Sin Taxes Should Be Increased ENG: 122 English Composition II James Welsh March 11, 2013 Tobacco and Why Sin Taxes Should Be Increased Tobacco may indeed come in many shapes and forms, but they all pose very high health risk to not only the consumer but also anyone around during consumption. Due to numerous toxins found in tobacco products as well as the help of science the government believes it will be wise to increase “Sin Taxes”. With the increase of such taxes healthcare will not only be more affordable, but tobacco products will less likely be purchased. Thus cutting the cost that the government pays in medical care for a smoker. While many people will argue that increasing “Sin Taxes” on tobacco products isn’t beneficial since smoking is an addiction. (Talylor, 2009) The Forms of Tobacco and The Contents While tobacco has many forms they fall into two main categories Smoking Tobacco and Smokeless Tobacco. (Connecticut Department of Health, 2013). Some people believe that some forms are safer then others, the fact remains that there are no safe forms of tobacco and they all pose addiction as well as health problems. Falling under the category of smoking tobacco: Bidis, Cigarettes, Cigars (cigarillos and little cigars), Electronic Cigarette, Hookah, Kreteks and Pipes. Bidis and Kreteks have a higher concentration of nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide than the conventional cigarette. (Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Bidi smoking...
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...A “sin tax” on cigarettes and alcohol dampened the New Year party spirit when it was introduced in the Philippines Tuesday, as part of a government bid to boost finances. Many stores started selling tobacco and drink at inflated prices before midnight, ahead of the official implementation of the tax hikes on January 1, hitting partygoers in the pocket. Tax on cigarettes will gradually be raised to P30 ($0.72) per pack by 2017, roughly doubling the current price to around 52 pesos. Duty on alcohol will also increase gradually until 2017, increasing the price of a bottle of beer by 23.50 pesos, with varying levels for other drinks including wine and spirits. It will be further increased by four percent each year thereafter. “The new prices compared to countries like Singapore, for example, are still low, but for the ordinary Filipinos they are expensive,” said Laudemer Angeles, a 33-year-old shop owner in the town of Bacoor, south of Manila. “Many of my customers were complaining about the higher prices and were not too happy when they bought their booze and smokes for their parties last night.” Anti-smoking campaigner Emer Rojas said he hoped the new taxes would lead to a gradual decline in the number of people suffering from tobacco-related illness. “I think the sin taxes should even be raised higher,” he told AFP. “But we commend President Aquino for showing his resolve in signing the law.” The government has said that the country of 100 million has the highest incidence...
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...Chapter 1 Problem and Review of Related Literature Introduction Assessing the Main Effects of population strategies, such as tobacco taxation and pricing, on high-risk subpopulations is important for understanding the reach and effectiveness of such strategies. Increased tobacco taxes, passed on to consumers in the form of higher cigarette prices, provide an economic disincentive to those who smoke or may be contemplating smoking. Indeed, evidence from this knowledge synthesis strongly supports increasing cigarette prices through tobacco taxation as a powerful strategy for achieving major reductions in smoking among some, but not all, high-risk populations. This is a highly effective policy tool for reducing smoking participation and consumption among youth, young adults and persons of low socioeconomic status. In contrast, major gaps exist in our knowledge about the impact of price on persons diagnosed with mental health or non-nicotine substance abuse disorders, heavy and/or long-term smokers. Raising cigarette prices is an effective tobacco control policy in reducing smoking among youth. While most studies of young adults found that increased prices also result in reductions in smoking behavior, the magnitude tends to be smaller than for youth. Chaloupka and Pacula argue that because tobacco is an addictive substance, response to increased prices will occur more slowly than for non-addictive goods; therefore long-term gains may be larger than short-term gains. The impact...
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...Making big decisions is not easy; in fact it might be one of the most difficult things we ever have to do. The tendency is to postpone decisions as long as we can and put of the pain. Deciding to not make a decision is a choice in itself. This particular case study is a problematic one, because there are many concerns to think through when trying to improve a budget Issues Kimu County’s economy is weakening due to reductions in federal and state grants, disapproved court decisions to increase spending on county correctional facilities, business failures, and rising unemployment. Two apparel factories closed creating five hundred unemployed workers and a five percent reduction in the county’s taxes. As a result of all the failing businesses and rising unemployment, the budget analysts are predicting serious revenue shortfalls. To measure the magnitude of the county’s revenue deficits, the board of commissioners held a meeting with Tom Liki and Rachel Timons to get an update on the revenue projections for the next fiscal year. Timmons noted that her office expected a shortage of $1.5 million for the next financial year if no additional revenue were raised. The Budget stabilization account that has help provide a cushion for Kimu County in the past, will not be able to cover the expected insufficiencies during the next fiscal year. Actors Tom Liki is the county administrator. He is likely to select safe, conventional or traditional approaches to budgeting and focuses on the...
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...countries before reaching the Philippines. The idea of smoking tobacco first came from the Arawak Indians in 1492 that was noticed by Christopher Columbus. Seven years later, Amerigo Vespucci found out that the inhabitants in an island near Venezuela have already been practicing chewing dried leaves. In 1591, Mexico has already been growing tobacco at an increasing rate. It was believed that the tobacco was introduced by the Spaniards and Portuguese to mainland Europe, East Indies and Asia while they are on an expedition for searching for spices and spreading Christianity. Cigarette smoking became one of the highly sought after vice in the Philippines because of the affordable price of each stick ranging from seventy-five centavos to 2 pesos each, depending on its brand. The Philippine government came up with an idea of increasing the taxes imposed upon alcoholic beverages and cigarette sticks in order to minimize its harmful effects to human body. On 02 December 2012, President Benigno S. Aquino III signed into law Republic Act 10351, otherwise known as the “Sin Tax Law” which provides for additional tax on sin products such as alcohols and tobacco products. Prices of liquor and tobacco products increased from 100-200% immediately after the...
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...Sin Taxes House Bill 5727, or the Sin Tax Bill, aims to restructure the existing taxes imposed on alcohol and tobacco goods. Duties on these products are a potential revenue source that will help fund the Universal Health Care Program of the administration. Likewise, higher taxes—and consequently higher costs—are seen as a deterrent to the consumption of “sin” products, whose adverse effects are mostly borne by the poorer segments of society. Why are we supporting it? 1. To promote health by discouraging vice. 2. To collect more revenue for healthcare. Health According to the Department of Health (DOH), the Philippines has an estimated 17.3 million tobacco consumers, the most number of smokers in Southeast Asia. Filipinos on average consume 1, 073 cigarette sticks annually, while the smokers in the region consume less than a thousand sticks yearly. This high consumption rate is seen as a result, among others, of the very low cigarette prices in our country.Smoking is responsible for 71 percent of lung cancer deaths in the world. Consequently, lung cancer is the leading form of cancer in the Philippines. DOH statistics reveal that 10 Filipinos die every hour because of smoking.According to the DOH, a 10 percent increase in tobacco taxes will reduce the number of smokers by two million by 2016. A significant decline in the number of smokers will likewise reduce the number of smoking-related deaths. Revenue The Department of Finance (DOF) has determined the following flaws...
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...Review Related Literature Many of the Filipinos now are health conscious and It has been shown that combustion aerosols from cigarettes contain common chemical components such as carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide (Siahpush et al., 2006). Carbon monoxide is a major contributor to cardiovascular diseases from smoking. It impairs oxygen transportation in the blood. It is also strongly linked with the development of coronary heart disease. One gaseous constituent in cigarette smoke is hydrogen cyanide. Cyanide released from a cigarette can be 160 times greater than the level considered safe (Siahpush et al., 2006). It has a direct, harmful effect on the cilia, a part of the natural lung clearing mechanism in humans, thereby increasing the likelihood of developing disease. Risk from cyanide is significant with just one cigarette per day. Another gaseous constituent in cigarette smoke Silpakorn U Science & Tech J Vol.3(1), 2009 Smoking Behavior of Student is nitrogen oxide, of which the primary form is nitric oxide (NO) (Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, 2007). Students who have never tried to quit smoking should be aware of their chance to get serious health in their future. Now a day’s most of the smokers are student the more the price of cigarettes high the lessen student who wants smoke. Through this study many could benefit not just for lessen expenses but also more knowledge on how it could affect in their lives. They also should be educated on toxic chemicals...
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...Who is the biggest loser? Today, about 240 families lost a loved one to a tobacco-related illness. That’s an estimated 87,600 deaths in a year. In 2011, the country earned around Php26 billion worth of taxes from the tobacco industry, while revenue from cigarette manufacturers amounted to approximately Php31 billion. How much does life cost? For each life lost to tobacco use, the tobacco industry earned Php353,881.28. Is it worth it? This does not even account for the annual health costs and productivity losses from tobacco-related deaths and diseases that range from Php148 billion to Php314 billion. No monetary equivalent can also be juxtaposed to the hours of painful treatment just to manage the diseases, nor the time and energy a family member spends to care for the loved one. More so, these numbers do not even reflect the pain of losing someone you love. But for decision-makers, these exact figures and immeasurable realities are not compelling enough to pass the necessary measures to reduce tobacco use. Instead, the most marginalized and the poorest sectors are pitted against each other to rationalize inaction - tobacco victims versus farmers, workers against children and youth. Life versus livelihood. The battle of the sectors has been the easiest tactic to muddle the discourse on amendments to excise taxation. What we fail to remember is that all of these sectors - farmers, urban poor, youth, children, and workers are the tobacco victims. They are the...
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...Cigarette Taxes: Do They Have An Effect On Reducing The Demand For Them? By Lenora Walker Virginia College June 02, 2014 Cigarette Taxes: Do They Have an Effect on Reducing the Demand for Them? Cigarette taxes may stop some from smoking but in the long run people will find a way to keep smoking. There are some that are quitting for health reasons. In 2005 there was a decline between 1.5 percent and 2.5 percent. If cigarette taxes are earmarked then it can cause problems in funding education, health services, or other programs that will most likely grow over time. Policymakers and advocates should consider if a cigarette tax increase is necessary. In 2009 President Obama asked for a budget request to increase cigarette taxes from $1.01 per pack to $1.95 per pack. In 2015 the Federal tobacco tax would be indexed for inflation. Researchers have found that by increasing the real cigarette price by 10 percent would reduce the number of young-adults smokers by 3.5 percent and the number of kids by 6 or 7 percent. The calls to the national quit line have increased by 30% in the past 12 months after they compared it in the 12 months before. Increasing the cigarette taxes has had an effect on non-smokers by reducing the second hand exposure. Studies have showed that people of the low socioeconomics look at price more than the general population. With a regressive tax the poor is the one who pays the higher percentage through their income taxes. The economic analysis has determined...
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...Structure and Firm Strategy “Six months from today I have decided to start my own online service selling cookbooks. Presently, I am working full time with an annual salary of fifty thousand dollars a year. At the time of startup for selling the cookbook I will have made twenty five thousand dollars in the first six months of the year. The twenty five thousand dollars that I give up by moving on to my internet business of selling cookbooks is a nonmonetary opportunity cost. “The opportunity cost of any activity is the highest-valued alternative that must be given up to engage in that activity” (Hubbard pg. 356; 2012). This trade off of not gaining my twenty five thousand for working the second part of the year is a cost I will encounter and must be added to my total fixed cost. In other words, the twenty five thousand dollars I loose from leaving my job in order run my own business becomes an implicit fixed cost for the first year of running my business giving me a total of 41,000 total fixed costs. In regards to pricing my cookbooks the retail price for the cookbooks will be at $30.00 and the average price of the cookbook will be $20.00. The change in the difference of the retail price to the average price is my marginal price. My marginal price is ten dollars. In other words, marginal profit = selling price ($30) – total variable cost of one unit (average of $20). In order to figure my demand curve for the month and assume that I have 40,000 cookbooks in inventory I would...
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...Alcohol consumption poses a threat for many public health harms. Impaired driving is one of the largest contributors to motor vehicle crashes (Burris, Grunwald, Anderson, &ump; Filippoli, 2011). In the United States each year roughly 13,400 people die and an additional 255,500 are injured in motor vehicle crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver according to Burris et al., 2011. In 2006, these crashes accounted for almost a third of all U.S. traffic-related deaths (Burris et al., 2011). Alcohol is the most commonly abused substance in the United States according to Pandrea, Happel, Amedee, Bagby, &ump; Nelson, 2010, and studies show that reducing alcohol consumption can lead to public health improvements such as decreased incidence of “liver cirrhosis, delirium tremens, male suicide, criminality, hospitalizations, alcohol-related disease mortality, workplace injuries, STDs, IPV, rape, robbery, and severe violence towards children” (Jernigan). Public heath deals with many other issues that cause burdens to individuals and society alike such as obesity and gun use. Over the past several months, headlines in the news have been echoing “Chocolate Milk Removed from School Lunches,” and “Senate Considers Federal Tax on Soda.” While the removal of chocolate milk from school menus has actually happened in certain school districts across the country, federal tax on sodas has only been a proposal at this point. However, both echoes resounding through the news originated from escalating...
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...conditions in the United States will deteriorate if there’s no change in direction. A better understanding of how fiscal policy and competitiveness are linked may make such a change more likely. How does fiscal policy affect competitiveness? To answer, we need a clear definition of “competitiveness”—which is, in our view, the extent to which a nation’s companies can succeed in the global marketplace while its people enjoy a high and rising standard of living. Companies compete on the basis of production costs for a certain amount of output. The only way to lower those costs while sustaining and raising workers’ standard of living is to increase productivity, or output per worker. Raising productivity requires improving human capital, increasing physical capital (equipment or software, for example), or using these forms of capital more efficiently. Let’s look at how the spending side of fiscal policy relates to these three drivers. Many public goods provided by the government contribute directly to one or more of them. Spending to improve public education, for instance, can increase human capital. Spending on infrastructure can increase physical capital. Publicly funded R&D, effective regulation, and incentives for private-sector innovation can lead to a more efficient use of human and physical capital. In contrast, some spending, like that for health care and other...
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