Clear the Air says: Worldwide the Tobacco industry spews the same mantra when their Armgeddon, tax increases, are used effectively.
In Hong Kong a spurious group of self interest serving tobacco peddlars claimed without a shred of evidence, that 49.9% of cigarette sales in Hong Kong were smuggled – that means Hong Kong Customs Department, one of the most efficient in the world, ‘missed’ 280 forty foot containers of cigarettes in the last year.
The tobacco lobby deliberately tries to mix the illicit act of smuggling , run by organised crime groups as a by product of their Armageddon. Tax increases are a health measure, tobacco smuggling is organised crime. The tobacco companies’ own words on the UCSF Legacy depository show that the main source of the smuggled goods is ‘Duty Not Paid’ or ‘General Cargo’ which is tobacco company speak for smuggled tobacco and the source is the hypocritical tobacco companies themselves – as admitted and proven.
If you want to see the news about United Kingdom Government’ failure to reverse last year;s tobacco and alcohol duty hike, please hit the jump.
Tobacco Industry Body Slams UK Government Tax Moves
LONDON (Dow Jones)–The U.K. government’s failure to reverse last year’s tobacco and alcohol duty hike while at the same time raising sales taxes will result in a further increase in the illicit tobacco trade in the U.K., an industry trade body said Wednesday.
The Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association, which represents cigarette makers like British American Tobacco PLC (BTI) and Imperial Tobacco PLC (IMT.LN), slammed the tax moves as “a return to the bad old days.”
When the U.K. sales tax was cut in December 2008 to 15% from 17.5%, tobacco and alcohol excise duties were raised in order to compensate for the cut. U.K. Chancellor Alistair Darling Wednesday returned sales tax to 17.5% without reversing last year’s duty rise.
The TMA said this would effectively mark the largest tax increase on tobacco products in ten years, with between 13 and 18 pence added to a pack of cigarettes.
“Not only will this increase be significantly above inflation, but it will also take place against a backdrop of rising unemployment and falling incomes, providing further incentives to criminals to illegally import and distribute cheap tobacco to adult smokers and potentially children,” said Christopher Ogden, Chief Executive of the TMA.
The TMA estimates that 24% of the U.K.’s cigarettes market and 62% of handrolling tobacco products are purchased without the payment of U.K. duty.
Source: Michael Carolan, Dow Jones Newswires michael.carolan@dowjones.com