sin tax

“There’s not a general income tax, not a corporate tax. This is, from my perspective, more of a sin tax…. The cost borne by the taxpayers for gun violence is off the charts.… So it’s a small price to pay. This is pretty de minimis.”

California voters eked out a win for children more than two decades ago based on a “sin tax.”

Department of Revenue statistics show cannabis has become a larger source of state revenue than alcohol and tobacco as sources of “sin tax” revenue over the past five years, raising more than $2 billion for the state even before local sales taxes are calculated.

Japanese officials, worried about shifting demographics and a sharp decline in sin tax revenue, have come up with an unusual fix for their fiscal woes: encouraging young people to drink more.

A few years ago, there was talk of a "sin tax" which would raise prices of unhealthy foods and drinks to discourage their consumption, but health experts say it never happened because of pushback from companies that market them.