Brazil’s ‘Sin Tax’ Explained: How It May Affect Beer, Tobacco

When Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes talked in Davos about plans to impose a “sin tax” on beer, cigarettes and other not-so-healthy products, the backlash at home was so intense that President Jair Bolsonaro quickly ruled out the idea.

Paulo Guedes

Photographer: Patricia Monteiro/Bloomberg

Saying he was “99%” with his economy minister, the president made a pause during an official trip to India to tell reporters that “there won’t be any tax increases on beer.”

Yet the idea to give different fiscal treatment to products considered detrimental to society has always been part of Guedes’ plan and it doesn’t involve higher taxes, according to ...