US and International Evidence on Factors Leading to Tax Avoidance and Evasion and Their Impact on Drinking Behaviors and Consequences

 描述（由申请人提供）：使用法律的手段避税和使用非法手段逃税（例如走私）可能会严重破坏提高税收作为减少饮酒和相关危害的最有效政策的有效性。随着税收或价格的上涨，消费者可以转向避税和逃税造成的低价产品，而不是减少酒精的使用。此外，烟草研究表明，年轻人、低收入和少数群体消费者等弱势群体更有可能避税和逃税，这表明烟草可能加剧饮酒和相关后果方面的差距。在这份《独立之路》提案中，我将通过研究可能导致酒精避税和逃税的因素来填补研究空白，其中包括跨境购物和走私的激励措施、更多依赖从价税的复杂税收结构或按等级区分，制造商的市场力量，通过设定和维持价格和价格范围，改变税收结构对避税的影响。特别是，我将采用一种新的方法来衡量激励跨境购物和走私，使用地理信息系统（GIS）的方法，其中包括特定的，消费税和销售税，绝对距离较低的税收管辖区，税收差异的大小，基于道路和高速公路条件的旅行时间，以及人口分布。拟议的研究也是及时的，因为制造商的市场力量已经被快速增长的独立手工酿酒厂和酿酒厂所改变，这可能会通过降低制造商的定价能力来显著影响避税。拟议研究的结果还将使决策者了解如何提高税收政策的效力，特别是在弱势群体中。有四个具体目标：1）确定酒精税结构与反映避税机会的价格波动之间的关系; 2）研究复杂的税收结构和跨境购物和走私的激励措施导致的避税和逃税对酒精使用和后果的影响; 3）通过制造商对税收结构变化的反应，研究制造商的市场势力对避税的影响及其后果;（4）研究酒精饮料价格上涨对饮酒的影响及相关后果，重点关注弱势群体。作为一名专门研究烟草使用行为和烟草控制政策的年轻调查员，我寻求扩大我的研究范围。拟议中的研究将结合我在烟草经济学的专业知识，在地理信息系统和空间分析，以及在酒精税收和政策研究的基本培训。这将为我提供专业知识，进行全面分析，以研究酒精政策有效性的差异，从长远来看，作为一个独立的调查员。此外，拟议的工作将由一个跨学科的专家小组（Chaloupka，Chriqui和斯莱特博士）指导，他们的研究领域是相互补充的。我将从他们那里得到的指导，以及健康研究与政策研究所和更大的UIC社区提供的优良的研究环境，资源和职业发展活动，将帮助我完成拟议的研究，并成功过渡到独立的研究生涯。

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant):Tax avoidance using legal means and tax evasion using illegal means (e.g. smuggling) may significantly undermine the effectiveness of raising taxes as the most effective policy to reduce drinking and related harms. As tax or price increases, consumers can switch down to low-priced products resulting from tax avoidance and evasion instead of reducing alcohol use. Furthermore, tobacco research shows that vulnerable populations, such as young, low-income, and minority consumers, are more likely to engage in tax avoidance and evasion, suggesting that it may exacerbate disparities in drinking and related consequences. In this Pathway to Independence proposal, I will fill in the research gap by examining factors that may contribute to alcohol tax avoidance and evasion, which include the incentives for cross-border shopping and smuggling, complicated tax structures that rely more on ad valorem taxes or differentiate by tiers, and manufacturers' market power that alters the effect of tax structure on tax avoidance by setting and maintaining prices and price ranges. In particular, I will apply a novel approach to measure incentives for cross-border shopping and smuggling, using Geographic Information System (GIS) methods, which incorporate specific, excise, and sales taxes, absolute distance to lower tax jurisdictions, the size of the tax difference, travel time based on road and highway conditions, and population distribution. The proposed research is also timely as the manufacturers' market power has been altered by rapidly growing independent craft breweries and wineries, which may significantly impact tax avoidance by decreasing manufacturers' power to set prices. Findings from the proposed study will also inform policy makers about how to improve the effectiveness of taxation policies, particularly among vulnerable populations. There are four specific aims: 1) to identify the relationship between alcohol tax structure and price variability that reflects opportunities for ta avoidance; 2) to examine the effects of tax avoidance and evasion, resulting from complicated tax structures and incentives for cross-border shopping and smuggling, on alcohol use and consequences; 3) to examine the impact of manufacturers' market power on tax avoidance and consequences, through its responses to changes in tax structure; and 4) to examine the effects of increased affordability of alcoholic beverages on drinking and related consequences, focusing on vulnerable populations. As a young investigator who specializes in studying tobacco use behaviors and tobacco control policies, I seek to expand the scope of my research. The proposed study will integrate my expertise in tobacco economics with essential training in GIS and spatial analyses, as well as in alcohol taxation and policy research. This will provide me with the expertise to conduct a comprehensive analysis to study disparities in alcohol policy effectiveness in the long run as an independent investigator. In addition, the proposed work will be mentored by an interdisciplinary team of experts (Drs. Chaloupka, Chriqui, and Slater) whose research fields are complementary to each other. The mentorship I will receive from them, as well as the excellent research environment, resources, and career development activities offered by the Institute for Health Research and Policy and the greater UIC community, will assist me in completing the proposed study and making a successful transition into an independent research career.