It is a truth universally acknowledged, that cigarettes are bad for human health. Yet, whenever the government tries to regulate the consumption of cigarettes by increasing their price, it gets a very mixed reaction from the public. Some people (mostly non-smokers) welcome these policies, while others accuse the government of being greedy and proclaim the policies ineffective. Who is right and who is wrong in this debate? Let’s take a closer look at the facts.

Teimuraz Gogsadze, a graduate of ISET's Class of 2011, joined the International Taxation Division of the Tax Policy Department at the Ministry of Finance of Georgia in May 2011. He worked on such interesting projects as the double taxation avoidance agreement and agreements on mutual administrative assistance in customs matters, gaining invaluable experience at the Ministry of Finance. Having spent almost a year at the Ministry and inspired by the experience regarding taxation matters, Teimuraz decided to continue his studies with a PhD program. In April 2012, he joined the PhD program in Economics at the University of Leicester, where his supervisors were Professors Sanjit Dhami and Ali al-Nowaihi.

Casinos, totalizators, and other gambling institutions are very popular in Georgia. According to the study “Gambling in Georgia – Second Report,” conducted by Transparency International Georgia in 2015, 6% of 1867 randomly interviewed people answered “yes” to the question of whether they or their family members were engaged in gambling for money, including online. This figure, in my opinion, is too low, underestimating the potential engagement in gambling among Georgians.

Cutting taxes and achieving higher economic growth, as a result, is every politician’s dream. The 2016 parliamentary elections of Georgia showed just how important and controversial the question of taxation can become.

Shakespeare is often quoted as having said that death and tax are the only two certainties in life; many people of the modern world would perhaps agree that he would have been at liberty to add tax evasion to the list.