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1Various goods in all countries of the European Union (EU) are levied with an additional charge to that of VAT in the form of excise duties, which are justified by a regulatory norm because of the existence of negative externalities not included in prices.
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2The goods subject to these duties are alcoholic beverages, tobacco, hydrocarbons and other energy products.
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3Excise duties are regulated by Law 38/1992, of December 28, 1992, “because the consumption of goods that are subject to these duties generates social costs that are not taken into account when setting their private prices […]”.
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4The study has revealed the regressive nature of excise taxes and their use solely to generate revenue for public administrations.
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5The maximum average rate of excise duties for the period 2006-2017 was paid by the poorest households in 2010 and was equivalent to 8.45% of their income. The richest households in 2010 paid 2.73%, in other words, 3.1 times less in relative terms than the poorest households.
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6The reforms of excise duties on fuels and electricity that have been considered have helped to demonstrate that they can be used to fulfil not only a dissuasive but also a redistributive function.