Is the Excise Tax Perceived as an Externality Tax? An Empirical Study on Turkey

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the perceptions and attitudes of individuals towards the excise tax applied in Turkey since 2002 and whether the excise tax is accepted as an externality tax. The data were collected through online and face-to-face survey methods from 1304 participants across Turkey and were analyzed by regression models. The results show that the excise tax directly affects individuals' expenditures in the high-income group. The perceptions of individuals with high general tax awareness and those who expect an update in tariffs every year have positive attitudes about the excise tax. The perceptions of those who think that the scope of the excise tax should be narrowed towards the excise tax are negative. Besides, the positive perceptions of excise tax by individuals who consume harmful products more frequently and those who think that the excise tax on harmful products should be raised support that the excise tax is an externality tax.