Government tax individuals and businesses in order to provide services (such as education, defense, police, and so on). Most importantly, governments use taxes and subsidies to redistribute income from the rich to the poor. As we have seen, government also use taxes to discourage the consumption of certain commodities such as alcohol and tobacco and provide incentives for the consumption of other commodities such as housing and education. Thus, taxes and subsidies affect personal and business decisions and economic efficiency in general.