What are the sources for health financing from government revenue?
The main source of financing for NHS systems consists in direct taxes like income taxes, property taxes, or corporate profit taxes levied on individual households and enterprises, in some instances revenues from state enterprises as well as indirect, i.e. consumption taxes like value added taxes or “sin taxes” on alcohol and tobacco. The question of whether to tax income or consumption is very controversial in many countries. There is no conclusive evidence on which is more progressive, efficient or better for economic growth. Overall the effectiveness of the tax system, not the composition of taxes seems to matter. A second area of debate is the question of whether to raise taxes at the national or regional level. Local governments may be more accountable, on the other, raising funds at the national level may allow for more redistribution between richer and poorer regions. However, in practice, this has sometimes lead to regressive redistribution where poor rural areas contribute to f
