Luxury Excise Tax

Luxury taxes are included in the category of selective sales taxes or excise taxes. These taxes are levied on items that are uniquely or predominantly consumed by the rich meaning that the act of purchasing the goods is considered to be evidence of extraordinary ability to pay taxes (Lee, Johnson & Joyce 2007). The practice of the luxury excises is justified for a number of purposes; to raise additional revenue, to administer ability-to-pay approach and dispense social justice, to make a political appeal, to carry out protectionist and sumptuary policies, etc. The book considers the international experience of luxury excises in US, UK, France, and Russia and reveals the rationale behind the application of this tax is largely conditioned by the political regime and policy the country pursues. Nevertheless, the work is mostly focused on the discussion of the latest amendment in the Law on Excise Tax of RA in 2012. In Armenia this amendment came to be unofficially called Luxury tax and stirred up a lot of critique. Thus, the book concentrates on the fiscal effects and political appeals of luxury excises and on the estimation of the latest amendments in the Law on Excise Tax of RA.