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1981
Volume 3, Issue 2
  • ISSN: 2635-1609
  • E-ISSN: 2635-1617

Abstract

The disappearance of sumptuary legislation does not mean the cessation of the normative context within which luxury consumption is embedded; it has rather been replaced by regulation. The question raised is: what is the role and justification for subjecting the consumption of what are deemed socially to be luxuries to extra regulation on their purchase in the form of a special rate of taxation? Economic, moral and political arguments in favour of such a tax and those against are examined drawing on both fiscal analysis and empirical cases where a luxury tax is/has been levied.

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2025-03-18
2026-04-15

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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): arbitrariness; choice; politics; progressiveness; public goods; taxation
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