Bloke this morning in the supermarket made a comment to his wife about non smokers...he said"once duty free cigarettes are available on line taxes will go up....it will serve the non smokers right!"
Dick.
2006-11-13 20:52:32 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Government
thanks FRAGINAL-PINOY AKO but i think we all know what taxes are.
2006-11-13 20:57:40 · update #1
I think it will be more than a penny on income tax!
2006-11-13 21:12:29 · update #2
Why the hell should non smokers have to cough up. smokers arent forced to smoke, they choose to. christ sake grow up - youre mental.
2006-11-14 01:57:35 · update #3
More smokers will die, more strain on NHS
2006-11-14 02:26:56 · update #4
Fair? This government taxes you for everything: being born, living and dying. It will always find a way of squeezing more blood out of a stone, duty free or not.
2006-11-13 21:04:12 · answer #1 · answered by WISE OWL 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
What you have to remember is that smokers have been putting into the treasury close on £9bn every year and that smoking related illnesses account for £1.2bn pa - not a very fair system! Smokers have also been pilloried for years now despite everything they've paid out. If every smoker in this country was to quit smoking tomorrow how do you think the government would recoup that lost revenue? It's not just smokers who would benefit it's also drinkers, people buying perfume - neither of which I have any use for but I would still be expected to cough up extra taxes to make up for the lost revenue there.
2006-11-14 05:05:22 · answer #2 · answered by ragingmk 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The duty free bonanza, if it comes, will probably not last very long. The reason being is that those countries outside the EU which still offer duty free goods and services to overseas buyers, are limited in number. They include such as Lithuania, etc. There are probably only about three countries anyway and all are clamouring to join the EU at the earliest date possible. In any event, the first thing is a ruling by the European Court on this matter. Have we had that yet buy the way?
2006-11-16 12:04:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Firstly, it is not the UK government's decision to allow this - if it happens, it will be imposed by the EU - Our friend Gordon will not have any option.
I read that at the moment the Treasury raises about £15bn a year through excise duty/VAT etc. on alcohol and tobacco. If this new law is brought in, this amount will certainly go down. Even if it goes down by 10%, then the Government will have to find that £1.5bn from somewhere. They could increase the duty on alcohol and tobacco sold in UK, which would target the right people, but would force more people to buy on-line from abroad. The other alternative is for the Treasury to look elsewhere to compensate for the loss so in that case it will hit nonsmokers and non-drinkers.
2006-11-14 05:06:35 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe not fair but the government have bee3n overtaxing alcohol and tobacco for a very long time.
If the chancellor has a problem with it then the UK could stop giving so much money to the EU or get out of the EU altogether as this would save a bloody fortune.
2006-11-14 05:29:57 · answer #5 · answered by toothache 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dick,
The pronlem with all this is that UK taxes on booze & baccy have been set way too high for way too long.
Government gteed, a reluctance to sychronise tax levels with the EU, with the perpetual excuse that rediculously high rates are for health reasons.
Direct overseas purchases were bound to happen.
I shall use the system, and if it means a penny on income tax - fair enough.
Bob
2006-11-14 05:10:36 · answer #6 · answered by Bob the Boat 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It"s Hip, Hip Hooray.
The anti-smoking lobby have had it too good for too long.
We smokers have not only paid extortionate rates of tax for years and years, we have been severely restricted where we can smoke.
Now lets see the anti-smokers pay some extra tax.
Watch them squeal when Gordon asks them to "cough up" (excuse the pun)
I, for one, will definitely be shopping "on line"
2006-11-14 06:20:03 · answer #7 · answered by researcher 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes probably - or prices will go up somehow - Pubs in Scotland have put up their prices especially on food to compensate for falling sales from the smoking ban.
The point is that people will try to claw back their revenues somehow or other.
2006-11-15 06:52:11 · answer #8 · answered by LongJohns 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Taxes are now prohibitive measures making prices of cigarettes higher.
2006-11-14 04:55:11 · answer #9 · answered by FRAGINAL, JTM 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
HAS IT BIN PASSED YET ? HOPE IT IS THEN THE NON SMOKERS CAN PAY MORE IN TAX , SO THAT EUROPE CAN HAVE MORE FROM US ALL . MEANWHILE LETS SELL THE CROWN JEWELLS AND SEND THE MONEY TO ANOTHER COUNTRY .
2006-11-14 15:46:41 · answer #10 · answered by geoffrey b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋