Commenting on Boris Johnson’s pledge, if elected Leader of the Conservative Party, to launch a comprehensive review into the effectiveness of ‘sin taxes’, the Institute of Economic Affairs’s Head of Lifestyle Economics Christopher Snowdon said:
“A lot of tax cuts have been promised during the leadership campaign, not all of them sensible. The priority should be slashing the taxes which hit the poor hardest and punish people for their lifestyles.
“It is encouraging to see that Mr Johnson is against the milkshake tax and will launch a review of the former Chancellor’s sugar tax. He should also look at cutting Britain’s extortionate taxes on alcohol and tobacco. It’s about time politicians started standing up to the killjoys.”
Notes to editors:
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Further IEA reading on sin taxes:
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