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Comment by theDevill | Hacker News Reader

Why are Americans so obsessed with religion, devil and sins?!

Taxes exist to capture money and finance the externalities that are ignored by corporations. If corporations were more responsible countries would not have to tax these issues.

In this case France is using the money to improve an already pretty good rail system. Compare this to the US and the California train line?

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We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20392929 and marked it off-topic.

"Sin Taxes" are not meant to literally tax sins but to tax behaviours with negative consequences that where the price is ultimately bourne by society. For example, the cost of second hand smoke is bourne by others, and when they get sick, many times by taxpayers. The cost of alcohol is partly bourne by a variety of parties.

"Sin Taxes" are not meant to discourage literal sins but to discourage such activities with external costs. Many argue sugar should also be added to the list of "sins" though of course it is not Biblically a sin.

Taxes on tobacco are a good example of a sin tax in France, for example, alongside taxes on fuel.

Pigouvian tax is a synonym if you want to avoid the connotations of sin.

I think there’s a subtle difference in intent, as elucidated by laken above[1]. Basically, if you’re doing it with the intent to reduce the behavior, it’s (best called a) sin tax. If you don’t care how much people continue to do it, as long as they’re paying, it’s (best called a) Pigovian tax.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20394548

OK, I'll go disagree on the linked comment then. :)

It's quite an established term and not just used by Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin_tax

The Wikipedia article is translated to only four other languages. How is this an established term in the world?

There is no Chinese article on Wikipedia but it can be translated to 罪孽稅 which is an established concept. So that covers another 1.4bn people.

Your name makes this incredibly amusing. Thankfully the US is more than just California and rail is functioning on the opposite side of the country. It's a shame that things can't be done but this is the system "working".

Its not a religious thing just a turn of phrase, Sin taxes are typically high taxes on unhealthy things to discourage their use. I don't know its origin but its common in the UK.

Username checks out. A return to the etymology of the word might be a refreshing point of view: sin -- as in missing the mark, being in societal, cultural or moral error, or being less than you could be in terms of virtue. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin

Taxes also exist to incentivize desired behavior.

See: Solar, EV tax credits

It's just a colorful name.

A sin tax is nothing more than an opinionated Pigouvian tax.

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