I think imposing sin tax on anything will not help the economy, but rather sin taxes would make the lives of ordinary law abiding and extended family oriented citizens a little hellish.
Sin tax is basically an excise tax on anything that lawmakers – coerced and advised by concerned citizens and persuaded by staggering health, public safety, and school statistics on the well being of the people – reason to be “needed” but are essentially detrimental to the overall welfare of the nation.A couple of years ago, a number of people – including me – went out on a campaign to reduce the sale of tobacco products and alcoholic beverages in Palau.The campaign was a success and the government was convinced.The lawmakers, then, imposed nearly 100% increase in excise taxes- the sinners’ tax – on alcoholic beverages, liquor, and tobacco products.Additionally stringent laws on the sale of these products to minors- below 21 for alcohol and 19 for tobacco products – were imposed.The hope then was that higher taxes would mean surplus revenue to the government and more importantly, that there would be a significant decline in the number of people who use these products – particularly the young.Since then, it seems that nothing has changed.The sales of alcohol and tobacco products have not faltered one bit; and the number of people who are affected by the effects of alcohol and tobacco continues to climb.Burglaries, petty theft, and the occasional “I did not know it belongs to anyone so I took it” cases continue to rise – most of which are said to be attempts to supplement habits that are no longer affordable because of the taxes.To this day, I have not heard any report of where the surplus taxes went.I have learned from experience that most people who have learned to live in Palau are resilient; and if tobacco products and alcoholic beverages are their vices, they will find a way to acquire them – no matter how high the taxes maybe.I really do not think that imposing higher excise taxes on products and goods that are highly demanded – especially the ones that have been scientifically determined to contribute to a number of health issues – is practical.Higher taxes would just mean people would look for supplemental funds to kill themselves.I think it is best just to put a ban on all of the “sinners products” and then see what would happen.I always hopeful that life in Palau would be tax free!
