The Principles of Alcohol Taxation

This Policy Note was written by Economics for Health and RESET Alcohol. The policy note outlines six overarching principles of alcohol excise tax policy. These principles are based on the insights from more than 25 experts from Action for Economic Reforms (Philippines), Bloomberg Philanthropies, Boston University School of Public Health, Center for Global Development, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Canada), Centro de Investigación Económica y Presupuestaria (Mexico), Economics for Health, IMF, Open Philanthropy, OECD, PAHO, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez (Chile), Universidade Católica de Brasília, University of Cape Town, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Toronto, Vital Strategies, World Bank, and WHO. The principles are: using the measure of ethanol as a basis for tax structure, applying consistent taxes to different types of alcohol, implementing regular increases to reduce affordability, applying ad valorem rate to retail prices, updating minimum tax in ad valorem-only systems for inflation and income growth, and applying same tax structure to low- or no-alcohol products. The policy note concludes with a short evidence-based discussion of unrecorded alcohol consumption. 

View the webinar recording here and the presentation slides from EfH's Jeffrey Drope here.