Corsica benefits from a low tax on tobacco products, pointed out by the Court of Auditors and by doctors.
It is a bit of a bargain land for smokers, a tax haven for hobbies. Corsica, this exceptional island where tobacco costs almost 30% less than in the rest of France… but perhaps more for a long time.
The Court of Auditors published on Monday a report pointing to the “derogatory tax regimes” of the Isle of Beauty. A somewhat sensitive document, which denounces certain tax privileges described as anomalies. This is the case with the tax burden on tobacco.
“At the time of the adoption of European directives concerning the reconciliation of excise duties (taxes, editor’s note) Community in 1992, France had been authorized to maintain a differentiated tax system on tobacco released for consumption in Corsica ”, write the wise men of the rue Cambon. This favor was to gradually fade until it completely disappeared in 2009; It has not happened. “The Court assesses the loss of tax revenue at 27 million euros per year”, we can read.
For some doctors, this is another calculation that is required here. On Twitter, pulmonologist Bertrand Dautzenberg adds: “The taxation of tobacco protects against lung cancer. The proof in Corsica: -25% tax, + 25% lung cancer ”.
tobacco taxation protects against lung cancer ???? The proof in Corsica -25% of taxing + 25% of lung cancer
– Pr. B Dautzenberg (@parissanstabac) September 13, 2016
Lung cancer
If no study makes it possible to establish this link, it is however possible to wonder. According to the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of Corsica, the prevalence of lung cancer and the mortality linked to this pathology are particularly high on the island.
Indeed, the region has an excess lung cancer mortality of 26% (25% in men and 22% in women) compared to the French average, indicates the ARS. In humans, tobacco consumption seems to be on the decline, like the rest of the country. “In women, on the contrary, a considerable increase in the incidence (+ 415% in Corsica) was observed between 1980 and 2005”, specifies the Agency.
Thus, the prevalence of lung cancer in women approaches that of men. The Corsican region “has an over-incidence of lung cancer of 27% in women”, compared to the Continent, can we still readon the ARS website.
“The causal link has not been established, of course, but all the studies show that increasing tobacco taxation makes it possible to reduce consumption,” insists Bertrand Dautzenberg. Moreover, it can no longer be denied that smoking causes lung cancer. So we can easily imagine that the fact of not increasing taxes has maintained high rates of consumption, and therefore, of lung cancer ”.
“A right to die at a discount”
However, other factors may have influenced the prevalence of this cancer, such as the presence of asbestos. In addition, it is in Nord-Pas-de-Calais that we observe the highest prevalence rates of lung cancer (+ 40% compared to the French average), while taxation is the highest there. same as in the rest of the country.
It prevents. For Bertrand Dautzenberg, the low Corsican taxes on tobacco products constitute “a right to die at a discount”. For the Court of Auditors, this is an undue and illegal privilege. “The next finance law should be an opportunity to bring practice into line with Community law in order to achieve full alignment by January 1, 2017 at the latest,” write the rapporteurs. And this, whatever the reasons, economic or health, which motivate the decision-makers.
Alcohol: the Corsican exception
The island also enjoys a low tax on alcohol, pinned by the Court of Auditors. The wines produced and consumed in Corsica are not subject to any VAT or circulation rights. “The legal rate of VAT on wines being 20%, the Court assesses the amount of tax evaded at 49.5 million euros per year, write the rapporteurs. This situation disregards the general principle of equality before tax and contravenes European VAT regulations. It should be ended.
Furthermore, the privilege of distillers (a person authorized to produce their own brandy) has not been abolished in Corsica. It is applicable without limitation on the volume of alcohol, whereas “since 1923 and until its disappearance, the privilege of distillers in mainland France was limited to a distillation right of 10 liters of pure alcohol per year”.
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