rate varies according to the type of good and quantity purchased and is typically unaffected by the person who purchases it. Sin taxes, are a type of excise tax imposed on items that are considered harmful to society, in an effort to decrease their consumption by increasing their prices. Expenditure tax A direct, personal consumption tax may take the form of an expenditure tax, that is, an income tax that deducts savings and investments, such as the Hall–Rabushka flat tax. A direct consumption tax may be called an expenditure tax, a cash-flow tax, or a consumed-income tax and can be flat or progressive. Expenditure taxes were briefly implemented in the past in India and Sri Lanka. This form of tax applies to the difference between an individual's income and any increase/decrease in savings. Simple personal consumption taxes are regressive with respect to income. However, because this tax applies on an individual basis, it can be made progressive. Just as income tax rates increase with personal income, progressive consumption tax rates increase with personal consumption. Economists from Milton Friedman to Edward Gramlich and Robert H. Frank supported a progressive consumption tax. History Consumption taxes, specifically excise taxes, have featured in several notable historic events. In the United States, the stamp tax, the tax on tea, and whiskey taxes produced revolts, the first two against the British government and the latter against the federal government. In India, an excise tax on salt led to Mohandas Gandhi's famous Salt March, a major event in the Indian Independence Movement. United States In the early United States, taxes were levied principally on consumption. Alexander Hamilton, one of the two chief authors of the anonymous The Federalist Papers, favored consumption taxes in part because they are harder to raise to confiscatory levels than income taxes. In The Federalist Papers (No. 21), Hamilton wrote: Although personal and corporate income taxes provide the bulk of revenue to the federal government, consumption taxes continue to be a primary source of income for state and local governments. One of the first detailed proposals of a personal consumption tax was developed in 1974 by William Andrews. Japan The Liberal Democratic Party government of Masayoshi Ōhira attempted to introduce a consumption tax in 1979. Ohira met opposition within his own party and gave up on his attempt after his party suffered badly in the 1979 election. Ten years later Noboru Takeshita successfully