Cigarette Tax Evasion

Ok, the country, (thats all of us) looses £2 Billion a year due to non duty paid fags.

I pay duty on my tobacco but i'm always seeing foreign cigarette packets discarded, so a lot of people are not paying the tax.

If I put red desil in my car it stains the carb & if I get caught, i'd be liable for the back tax from when I bought the car, a good incentive to not use it.

So why not bring in a law saying that if you are caught with a non duty paid packet of fags or tobacco then you will be liable for the back tax to when you could legally smoke?

Unless of course you could produce a receipt to prove the current packet you have in your possesion was duty paid within the EU, say if you've legitimately just got back from holiday.

I doubt most people in a pub could prove they'd just popped over to Spain to buy the fags in their pocket.

 

But, without condoning it, some might say it is not fair that the UK applies said tax at the point of sale in the UK, so that only UK smokers have to pay it, while the very same baccy factories can send their wares into the EU, a region where we have a free trade treaty, and despite all the overheads of transporting them out and back in again, it still works out cheaper than buying them here.

If the government really wanted to address this very real issue in a fair way, would it not be better if they charged the tax at source, ie at the Embassy factory (in Nottingham I think) and other such manufacturing/distribution places? That way, if a Spanish person wants to smoke UK made baccy products, they pay the same tax as an Englishman, and so on. Of course that would simply result in such companies leaving UK shores, which would not be great for the economy, especially as it would likely mean that fewer retailers would stock them, as there'd be the added hassle of shipping them in from abroad and handling import duties etc, which would mean fewer smokers in the UK, which would mean lesser tax revenues from smokers.

 

You're right, the system is very flawed. It needs a major re think.

 

Zigs, I can hardly believe you have started this thread!!!! If anyone can get away with not paying the MASSIVE tax added to a packet of ciggies then as far as I am concerned bloody good luck to them!!!!!! The system does need a re-think it needs to stop hounding the working man for the few things he enjoys, his beer, his ciggies, his car!!!

Val

 

I'm not saying I agree with the amount of tax we pay on tobacco Val, being in the EU should mean we all pay the same amount, which we don't. But thats another issue.

What I object to is paying full price while the bloke next to me has only paid a couple of quid. If we all decided it was unfair & stopped paying tax on everything then we'd be bankrupt as a nation within a few weeks.

Why should people get away with not paying their dues?

 

Because the "dues" in this instance are exhorbitant and unfair. Best thing to do if you see someone with cheap cigarettes is to engage them in conversation, find out where they got them from and then tell me!!!!!


Val

 

I'm not convinced the tax on baccy is unfair as such, but I think its unfair that its so much higher hear than elsewhere in the EU.

At risk of sounding like an ex-smoker, I think its right to make baccy expensive. It does kill you. If not directly, it takes your health and fitness away. Personal choice I know, but not for those that have to watch a loved one slowly destroying themselves, or the hospital staff that have to work whatever magic it takes to reopen blocked arteries or find our why a seemingly healthy persons legs have randomly stopped working properly. That's why I quit. I saw these things happen to other people close to me, and I knew the same was slowly happening to me. I felt the pain of wondering whether my ailing dad would be around much longer, and I thought I'd like to try to make sure my son didn't have the same worry 20 or 30 years from now.

Its just unfair that the poison can be bought much, much cheaper from our European neighbours.

 

It is unfair, totally agree. If I can get 50g of Golden Virginia for £5 instead of nearly £20 I'm not going to turn my nose up at it.

The high tax to try to stop people smoking is a cure, not a prevention. It doesn't work!

 

I dont blame anyone for avoiding tax on booze or fags, both are over taxed in the UK in the guise that they know what is good for us, it the nanny state, or is it?

It's just actually the government raising money, to give away either in benefits or foreign aid.
The last thing they want is people to give up smoking or drinking, it would cripple the country, until they found something like water or air to tax.
The crazy medical lot wanted a tax on fizzy drinks a few weeks ago.

Talk about playing into the governments hands, but then I think it was the government's chief medical officer who suggested it.

 

So tax fraud is ok then?

 

They are telling us now that the biggest killer is obesity!! it is also apparently the biggest drain on the NHS so what are they going to do?? put up the price of all fattening and so called convenience foods? The use of alcohol is also escalating, although none of these things are in theory good perhaps people are just reacting to being 'squeezed' all the time and this is just adding to the pressure in their lives and exacerbating the problems.





Val

 

Evasion of unfair tax is OK in my book, and I know your next question, who decides its unfair.
That's a good one, but once something comes almost impossible to afford because of tax you are getting close IMO.

Would you consider the Tax on peoples savings in Cyprus to be fair??
I know I dont, it's actually legal theft.

 

As a side line, would be very interested to know how much a pound earn t actually has in buying power?
By that I mean, how much tax comes out of that pound and how much goes to a producer or supplier,
Bearing in mind income tax at scource, followed by VAT on everything we buy, then the other items such as tobacco, fuel, alcohol, etc. that get extra tax slapped on them.

I often think we are in the state we are because the government actually take more from us than the suppliers, nobody can make a living because we all pay the tax man.

 

Exactly, so it is hardly surprising that folk smoke too much, drink too much and turn to food for comfort!!!!!!

Val