Luxury: Consumption, legislation, regulation: Part II: Regulation

The disappearance of sumptuary legislation does not mean the cessation of the normative context within which luxury consumption is embedded; it has rather been replaced by regulation. The question raised is: what is the role and justification for subjecting the consumption of what are deemed socially to be luxuries to extra regulation on their purchase in the form of a special rate of taxation? Economic, moral and political arguments in favour of such a tax and those against are examined drawing on both fiscal analysis and empirical cases where a luxury tax is/has been levied.