The Poverty Effects of a "Fat-Tax" in Ireland

David Madden ()

Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers from HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York

Abstract: To combat growing levels of obesity, health related taxes have been suggested with taxes on foods high in fat or sugar. Such taxes have been criticised on the basis of their regressivity and potentially adverse impact upon poverty. This paper analyses the effect of such taxes on a range of poverty measures and also examines the effect of a revenue-neutral tax subsidy mix with a tax on unhealthy food combined with a subsidy on more healthy food. Using Irish expenditure data, the results indicate that taxes on high fat/sugar goods on their own will be regressive but that a tax-subsidy combination can be broadly neutral with respect to poverty.

Keywords: Poverty efficiency; consumption dominance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 I18 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-03
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Journal Article: THE POVERTY EFFECTS OF A ‘FAT‐TAX’ IN IRELAND (2015)
Working Paper: The Poverty Effects of a “Fat-Tax” in Ireland (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:yor:hectdg:13/07

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