Raising Tobacco Taxes in Selected Countries of Central America

Expert advice and evidence-based research will guide policymakers efforts to adopt effective fiscal policies to reduce demand for tobacco products in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala.Researchers will conduct tobacco demand studies to: -counteract the tobacco industry s arguments;-provide solid grounding for the development of tobacco tax policies; and,-convince authorities and the public that higher tobacco taxes constitute a win-win policy. In Honduras and El Salvador, researchers will apply statistical methods to economic data to calculate the decrease in tobacco consumption and the increase in revenue under different tax increase scenarios. In Guatemala, where demand studies and simulations have been completed, the research will provide further support to the government for a new tobacco tax bill. The project will also provide expert tax administration advice and include a seminar on modern techniques for improving supply chain controls, such as registering and licensing tobacco suppliers, or physical controls, such as tobacco track and trace systems.