The Subcommittee on Health Taxes, under the UN Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (UN Tax Committee), includes representatives from WHO, UN development agencies (such as UNDP), the World Bank, IMF, OECD, academia, and civil society. Its secretariat is hosted by UN DESA in New York. In 2021, WHO Headquarters played a key role in establishing the Subcommittee on Health Taxes. Joseph Kutzin moderated the panel “Taxation and Health” at the ECOSOC Special Meeting on Tax, introducing the topic to the UN Tax Committee. WHO, along with other members of the IAWG, provided substantial input into UN DESA’s issues paper that laid the foundation for the UN Tax Committee's decision to address health taxes.
At its 23rd Session, the UN Tax Committee reviewed a note on excise taxes for tobacco, alcohol, and sugar-sweetened beverages. It acknowledged that the consumption of these products is linked to non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, which cause millions of premature deaths annually, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. The Committee concluded that well-designed health taxes on these products are an effective measure to reduce consumption and improve health outcomes.
Therefore, the Committee proposed developing a handbook to guide developing countries on health taxes, similar to its 2017-2021 Handbook on Carbon Taxation. Such a handbook would address tax policy, administration, and political considerations while supporting capacity-building initiatives for national tax officials in developing countries.
