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  • Estimated impacts of alternative Australian alcohol taxation structures on consumption, public health and government revenues

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    byrnes818.pdf (163.0Kb)
    Author(s)
    Doran, Christopher M
    Byrnes, Joshua M
    Cobiac, Linda J
    Vandenberg, Brian
    Vos, Theo
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Byrnes, Joshua M.
    Year published
    2013
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Objective: To examine health and economic implications of modifying taxation of alcohol in Australia. Design and setting: Economic and epidemiological modelling of four scenarios for changing the current taxation of alcohol products, including: replacing the wine equalisation tax (WET) with a volumetric tax; applying an equal tax rate to all beverages equivalent to a 10% increase in the current excise applicable to spirits and ready-to-drink products; applying an excise tax rate that increases exponentially by 3% for every 1% increase in alcohol content above 3.2%; and applying a two-tiered volumetric tax. We used annual ...
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    Objective: To examine health and economic implications of modifying taxation of alcohol in Australia. Design and setting: Economic and epidemiological modelling of four scenarios for changing the current taxation of alcohol products, including: replacing the wine equalisation tax (WET) with a volumetric tax; applying an equal tax rate to all beverages equivalent to a 10% increase in the current excise applicable to spirits and ready-to-drink products; applying an excise tax rate that increases exponentially by 3% for every 1% increase in alcohol content above 3.2%; and applying a two-tiered volumetric tax. We used annual sales data and taxation rates for 2010 as the base case. Main outcome measures: Alcohol consumption, taxation revenue, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) averted and health care costs averted. Results: In 2010, the Australian Government collected close to $8.6 billion from alcohol taxation. All four of the proposed variations to current rates of alcohol excise were shown to save money and more effectively reduce alcohol-related harm compared with the 2010 base case. Abolishing the WET and replacing it with a volumetric tax on wine would increase taxation revenue by $1.3 billion per year, reduce alcohol consumption by 1.3%, save $820 million in health care costs and avert 59 000 DALYs. The alternative scenarios would lead to even higher taxation receipts and greater reductions in alcohol use and harm. Conclusions: Our research findings suggest that any of the proposed variations to current rates of alcohol excise would be a cost-effective health care intervention; they thus reinforce the evidence that taxation is a cost-effective strategy. Of all the scenarios, perhaps the most politically feasible policy option at this point in time is to abolish the WET and replace it with a volumetric tax on wine. This analysis supports the recommendation of the National Preventative Health Taskforce and the Henry Review towards taxing alcohol according to alcohol content.
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    Journal Title
    Medical Journal of Australia
    Volume
    199
    Issue
    9
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.5694/mja13.10605
    Copyright Statement
    Doran CM, Byrnes JM, Cobiac LJ, et al. Estimated impacts of alternative Australian alcohol taxation structures on consumption, public health and government revenues. Med J Aust 2013; 199 (9): 619-622. © Copyright 2013 The Medical Journal of Australia – reproduced with permission.
    Subject
    Medical and Health Sciences not elsewhere classified
    Medical and Health Sciences
    Psychology and Cognitive Sciences
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/58254
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    • Journal articles

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