Adam Hoffer is the Director of Excise Tax Policy at the Tax Foundation. Dr. Hoffer earned his PhD in Economics from West Virginia University and his undergraduate degree from Washington & Jefferson College.
Prior to joining the Tax Foundation, Dr. Hoffer was the Menard Family Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the inaugural Director of the Menard Family Midwest Center for Economic Engagement and Research. Dr. Hoffer was also a Bradley Freedom Fellow with the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and a senior editor with the Center for Growth and Opportunity at Utah State University.
Dr. Hoffer published 30 peer-reviewed academic journal articles and he is the lead author and editor of two books: For Your Own Good: Taxes, Paternalism, and Fiscal Discrimination in the Twenty-First Century and Regulation and Economic Opportunity: Blueprints for Reform.
He lives in La Crosse, Wisconsin with his wife and two children.
Fixed-rate excise taxes are often adopted to reduce harm, curb excessive consumption, or discourage dangerous behaviors. However, without attention to how consumers substitute between products, well‑meaning policies may exacerbate the very harm they aim to prevent.
5 min read
While rising property values and taxes have intensified calls for reform, the reality is that property taxes fund the lion’s share of local services and lack a viable substitute. Excise taxes are far too narrow to fill the gap, and a poor candidate for filling any meaningful portion of it.
4 min read
To design an effective excise tax policy around smoking tobacco & nicotine products, it is crucial to consider the concept of harm reduction.
6 min read
Americans may be surprised to see just how much they are taxed for renting a car.
5 min read
Excise taxes are regressive, and other alternatives are frequently available to incentivize behavior change.
6 min read
Creative destruction—coined by famed economist Joseph Schumpeter—is the idea that new innovations disrupt and “destroy” existing economic structures as they create better and more efficient products and processes.
4 min read
The most effective way to tax alcoholic beverages is to tax according to alcohol content, rather than beverage type.
5 min read
Excise taxes generate more than two trillion dollars worldwide each year. While tying an excise tax revenue source to a specific expenditure program can be a best practice, the efficiency depends on the revenue source, the spending program, and why the excise tax was implemented in the first place.
6 min read
Public health organizations continue to push for excise taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Several governments around the globe already levy an excise tax on sugary beverages.
5 min read
Wireless consumers continue to be burdened with high taxes, fees, and government surcharges in many states and localities throughout the country.
14 min read
With much of the continent celebrating Oktoberfest, it is a great time to examine beer taxes across Europe. Hefty beer taxes increase the price consumers pay for their libations.
5 min read
Legal sports betting has grown rapidly since the Supreme Court granted states the ability to establish online sports betting markets in Murphy vs. NCAA in 2018.
6 min read
Countries and global organizations should recognize the harms caused by cigarette smuggling and the fact that this illicit trade is a direct result of exorbitant tax policies.
5 min read
California levies the highest tax on gasoline at 70.9 cents per gallon (cpg), followed by Illinois at 66.4 cpg and Washington at 59.0 cpg.
8 min read
Cigarette smokers in the European Union pay far more in excise taxes than they do for the cigarettes themselves. Our latest map illustrates the wide variance in cigarette excise taxes across EU Member States.
5 min read
In a surprising tax code alteration that has frustrated Americans who enjoy gambling, a provision in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act limits gambling losses that can be used to offset gambling winnings to 90 percent of their value. This provision introduces a steep tax penalty for professional gamblers and certain casual bettors.
5 min read
As the market share of electric vehicles (EVs) on the road grows, the gas tax’s ability to fund road projects and decrease traffic congestion erodes. Both federal and state real tax revenue per vehicle mile traveled has been on a steady decline for decades, creating a fiscal gap for road expenditures even as the demand for road infrastructure improvements has grown.
5 min read
Fuel taxes continue to be a central policy consideration for European countries amid geopolitical conflicts, increased emphasis on environmental policy, and economic conditions experienced by average consumers.
5 min read
Even if tobacco tax increases generate more revenue in the short run, the shrinking tax base guarantees long-run revenue declines.
7 min read
Growing cigarette tax levels and differentials have made cigarette smuggling both a national problem and a lucrative criminal enterprise.
6 min read