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

美国和国际关于导致避税和逃税的因素及其对饮酒行为和后果的影响的证据

• 批准号: 9088044
• 负责人: Ce Shang
• 金额: $ 16.26万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-08-15 至 2018-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9088044
• 关键词: Address; Alcohol consumption; Alcoholic Beverages; Alcohols; Behavior; Border Crossings; Cessation of life; Cigarette; Communities; Computer software; Data; Economics; Effectiveness; Environment; Foundations; Geographic Information Systems; Health; Heavy Drinking; Incentives; Indian reservation; Industry; Institutes; International; Knowledge; Lead; Legal; Liver diseases; Low income; Manufacturer Name; Marketing; Measures; Mentors; Mentorship; Methodology; Methods; Minority; Pathway interactions; Policies; Policy Maker; Policy Research; Population Distributions; Price; Public Health; Research; Research Personnel; Resources; Sales; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Stroke; Structure; Taxation; Taxes; Time; Tobacco; Tobacco use; Traffic accidents; Training; Travel; Violence; Vulnerable Populations; Work; Youth; alcohol consequences; base; career; career development; cost; design; drinking; drinking behavior; economic behavior; evidence base; health disparity; health economics; improved; innovation; novel strategies; problem drinker; public health relevance; public policy on alcohol; public policy on tobacco; reduced alcohol use; response; socioeconomics; tobacco advertising

 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.

 描述(由申请人提供)：使用合法手段避税和使用非法手段(如走私)逃税可能会严重破坏增税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，消费者可以转而购买因避税和逃税而导致的低价产品，而不是减少饮酒。此外，烟草研究表明，弱势群体，如年轻、低收入和少数族裔消费者，更有可能进行避税和逃税，这表明这可能会加剧饮酒差距和相关后果。在这份独立之路提案中，我将通过研究可能导致酒类避税和逃税的因素来填补研究空白，这些因素包括对跨境购物和走私的激励，更依赖从价税或按等级区分的复杂税收结构，以及制造商的市场力量，这些市场力量通过设定和维持价格和价格范围来改变税收结构对避税的影响。特别是，我将应用一种新的方法来衡量跨境购物和走私的诱因，使用地理信息系统(GIS)方法，其中包括特定税、消费税和销售税、与较低税收管辖区的绝对距离、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精酿啤酒厂和葡萄酒厂改变，这可能会降低制造商制定价格的权力，从而显著影响避税。拟议研究的结果还将向政策制定者介绍如何提高税收政策的有效性，特别是在弱势群体中。有四个具体目标：1)确定酒类税收结构与反映避税机会的价格变异性之间的关系；2)研究复杂的税收结构和跨境购物和走私激励所造成的避税和逃税对酒精使用和后果的影响；3)通过对税收结构变化的反应，研究制造商的市场力量对避税和后果的影响；以及4)审查酒精饮料可负担性提高对饮酒的影响和相关后果，重点关注弱势群体。作为一名专门研究烟草使用行为和控烟政策的年轻调查员，我寻求扩大我的研究范围。拟议的研究将把我在烟草经济学方面的专业知识与地理信息系统和空间分析以及酒类税收和政策研究方面的基本培训结合起来。这将为我提供专业知识，作为一名独立调查员进行全面分析，长期研究酒精政策有效性方面的差异。此外，拟议的工作将由一个跨学科的专家团队(Chaloupka博士、Chriqui博士和斯莱特博士)指导，他们的研究领域是相辅相成的。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社区提供的良好的研究环境、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。