![](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/nicshax-1-150x150.jpg)
Nick Shaxson ■ Should we be giving tax breaks to tobacco companies?
![economist tobacco](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/2678/economist-tobacco-1-1400x600-c.jpg)
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]From Citizens for Tax Justice in the U.S., a post that begins by discussing federal tax breaks for manufacturing corporations. And they ask:
“Tobacco companies “manufacture” cigarettes—but do Americans, or lawmakers, really think it’s a good idea for the federal government to subsidise this activity? New financial reports from major corporations in this sector show that cigarette makers are enjoying substantial manufacturing tax breaks for producing products that kill people.”
It notes that Altria, the maker of Marlboros, cut its federal taxes by $799m over the past years just by using that deduction. (Also see work of our friends at the U.S. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.)
We’d add that Article 6 of the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is clear on the importance of tobacco tax, and this reflects scientific and political consensus on the extreme ativan health costs – that is to say, deaths and lung cancer and other nasties – of not getting it right. Not taxing tobacco consumption sufficiently is one thing: subsidising production (of death) through the manufacturing deduction goes still further in the wrong direction.
This can only be seen as reflecting either very short and myopic policymaker horizons (trading what may or may not produce a job today, for a sure-fire slew of painful deaths tomorrow); or the continuing political power and influence of Big Tobacco: as the WHO puts it: the Tobacco industry is part of the problem, not of the solution. CTJ continue:
“At a minimum, policymakers should be asking whether it makes any sense to subsidize an industry producing products that kill thousands of Americans a year.”
And it’s not just Americans. It’s everyone.
Oh, and there’s this.
And this too.
[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_js]
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
[/vc_raw_js][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Related articles
![Flags of countries in front of the United Nations Office at Geneva-PEXELS Flags of Countries in front of the United Nations Office at Geneva](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/17845/Flags-of-countries-in-front-of-the-United-Nations-Office-at-Geneva-PEXELS-scaled-380x210-c.jpg)
🔴Live: UN tax negotiations
![PM Keir Starmer and President Biden speak at NATO Summit PM Keir Starmer and President Biden speak at NATO Summit](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/18417/PM-Keir-Starmer-and-President-Biden-speak-at-the-NATO-Summit-WIKI-COMMONS-scaled-e1721984033464-380x210-c.jpg)
Why the new Labour government should reverse the UK’s opposition to the UN tax convention
![IMG_0202](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/18404/IMG_0202-380x210-c.png)
A Call for Climate and Social Justice: Why Europe Needs a Wealth Tax
![shell games3](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/18384/shell-games3-scaled-380x210-c.jpg)
Shell games: A new grant for academic research
![A large sculpture of face sits in the middle of a garden hedge maze - UNSPLASH A large sculpture of face sits in the middle of a garden hedge maze](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/18379/A-large-sculpture-of-face-sits-in-the-middle-of-a-garden-hedge-maze-UNSPLASH-380x210-c.jpg)
Another EU court case is weaponising human rights against transparency and tax justice
![People walk across a road crossing in a city on a bright day - UNSPLASH People walk across a road crossing in a city on a bright day](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/18347/People-walk-across-a-road-crossing-in-a-city-on-a-bright-day-UNSPLASH-scaled-380x210-c.jpg)
Our future is public, and tax justice can get us there
Submission to Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers on undue influence of economic actors on judicial systems
![An airplane wing over a sea dotted with many cargo ships in the daytime - UNSPLASH An airplane wing over a sea dotted with many cargo ships in the daytime](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/18336/An-airplane-wing-over-a-sea-dotted-with-many-cargo-ships-in-the-daytime-UNSPLASH-380x210-c.jpg)
Bonn Climate Change conference again shows climate finance needs better tax governance. Start with harmful incentives.
How corporate tax incentives undermine climate justice
20 June 2024
Profit shifting by multinational corporations: Evidence from transaction-level data in Nigeria
5 June 2024
![OECD podium - U.S. Department of State from United States, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons OECD podium](https://taxjustice.net/wp-content/uploads/fly-images/16449/OECD-podium-U.S.-Department-of-State-from-United-States-Public-domain-via-Wikimedia-Commons-380x210-c.png)