A Good First Step: Mexico Updates its Tobacco Tax for Inflation

December 10, 2019 Mexico has just approved an update for inflation to the Special Tax on Production and Services (IEPS) for tobacco as part of its “Economic Package for the Fiscal Year 2020”—the first update of the tax since 2011. For 2020, this translates to an increase of the IEPS from 0.35 to 0.498 pesos per stick, or from 7 to 9.96 pesos per pack, making a pack of cigarettes about 3 pesos (or $US 0.15) more expensive. After 2020, the IEPS will be updated annually for observed inflation. Read More

Increasing Tobacco Taxes ≠ Increasing Illicit Trade: A Look at Brazil’s Working Group

November 11, 2019 In response to growing concerns about illicit trade, the Brazilian government formed a working group in March of this year to determine whether reducing tobacco taxes would solve the problem. Although formed in response to industry arguments that tobacco taxes were the cause of increasing illicit trade, within six months, this group concluded that reducing taxes not only would not reduce illicit trade, but would, instead, have negative fiscal, tax, and health implications. In order to curb illicit trade, the group concluded, better coordination between Ministries of Finance, Health, and Foreign Affairs as well as the police force, is necessary for more effective tobacco control. Read More

Interview: Dr. Frank Chaloupka Discusses the Effectiveness of Taxes on Soda, Tobacco, and Alcohol

October 23, 2019 Knowledgeable Magazine interviewed Dr. Frank Chaloupka for the article "Do Soda Taxes Work?" on October 18, 2019. The article examines taxing harmful products to discourage their consumption. It provides an interesting perspective on the research Dr. Chaloupka and Tobacconomics has done around increasing taxes on products, such as sugar-sweetened beverages and tobacco. Read More

Continuing Our Commitment to Partner Capacity Building: Serbia and Indonesia

September 09, 2019 The Tobacconomics team’s exciting work continued through July and August in Serbia and Indonesia to continue to help build partner capacity in those regions. Read More

Capacity Building in Action: Highlights from the Tobacconomics Asia Partners’ Meeting

July 24, 2019 In our March blog series on the Tobacconomics approach to capacity building, we explored how we collaborate with think tanks in low- and middle-income countries. In this blog, we will be sharing one of our recent capacity building experiences—a gathering of our think tank partners from South and Southeast Asia. Read More

Tobacconomics Welcomes New Partners, Expands Research With Continuing Partners

July 10, 2019 Tobacconomics, a grant-funded research initiative of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), welcomes five new research partners to build the evidence base for effective tobacco tax policies in low- and middle-income countries. The new partners include: the Center for Indonesia’s Strategic Development Initiatives (CISDI) in Jakarta, Indonesia; the Ark Foundation in Dhaka, Bangladesh; Centro de Investigación Económica y Presupuestaria (CIEP) in Mexico City, Mexico; Universidade Católica de Brasília (UCB) in Brasilia, Brazil; and El Centro de Estudios Distributivos Laborales y Sociales Argentina (CEDLAS) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In addition to the new partnerships, Tobacconomics is also pleased to announce the continuing work with partners from the Americas, South and Southeast Asia, and the Southeastern Europe regions. Read More

Tobacco Economics Research Run Down at Vietnam Economics Annual Meeting

July 09, 2019 Some of the best moments of our work are those where we have the opportunity to meet with our partners face-to-face and see them present their research to a broader audience. A few weeks ago at the 11th Vietnam Economists Annual Meeting (VEAM)—hosted by our partner in Vietnam, DEPOCEN—we were able to do just that. Read More

New Bill in the Philippines Passed to Increase Tobacco Taxes is a True ‘Win-Win’

July 01, 2019 In 2012, the Philippines enacted one of the most significant tobacco tax reforms in history. The Sin Tax Reform Act (STL) reformed the tobacco excise tax system by replacing its four-tier system of taxation with a uniform specific tax on all cigarette brands of 30 PHP per pack by 2017. This meant that the previous tax rates of 2.72 PHP per pack of cigarettes on low- and medium-priced brands and 12 pesos on premium brands all shifted to 30 PHP—amounting to more than a 1000% tax increase on the cheapest brands. Read More

Tobacco Taxes for Lung Health!

May 31, 2019 In an effort to raise awareness about the negative consequences of smoking tobacco products, the World Health Organization (WHO), along with many other global partners, celebrates World No Tobacco Day every year on May 31st. This year, the theme is tobacco and lung health. In today’s blog, we’re expanding the campaign’s primary focus area—the negative impact smoking has on lung health—to look at economic burden of tobacco-related lung disease, and how fiscal policy tools, such as taxation can help reduce smoking rates and thus, tobacco-related lung disease. Read More

Tobacconomics Research World Tour: Fourth Stop—Bangladesh

May 07, 2019 The last stop on our research tour is Dhaka, Bangladesh. On April 7th, one of our think tank partners in Bangladesh, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), hosted a workshop for policy makers, the media, academics and civil society stakeholders about their research on the economics of tobacco taxation in the country. Read More