Evaluation of sin taxes in terms of constitutional taxation principles

The most important source of income of the state is taxes. Taxes are levied on various goods and services in order to both generate income and ensure social well-being. One of these taxes is the sin tax. Sin taxes have been applied in many countries from the past to the present. According to each country's own tax system, the ways in which sin taxes are applied vary. Sin taxes are levied on the consumption of goods and services that were considered to be sins from a religious point of view in past times. In ancient times, popes stated that it was a sin for women to exhibit immoral behavior, and they received money in exchange for cleansing them of these sins, and they finance their religious projects with this money they received. Thus, the resulting sin taxes later began to be levied on goods and services that are addictive, harmful to health and disturb social peace, such as alcohol and tobacco products. Thus, the state has both earned income and tried to prevent the use of goods and services that would disturb social peace. In this study, the sin tax has been discussed and explained in detail with all its features. At the same time, the sin taxes being applied in Turkey and the application examples in selected countries of the world have been included. Finally, sin taxes were evaluated separately in the light of constitutional taxation principles.