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LadyEllen -> RE: Air Port Security and common sense. (7/28/2006 4:07:43 PM)
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Hi Popeye
Cigarettes and all kinds of alcohol are permissible to bring into the UK from other EU countries - officially the EU is now borderless so officially there is no limit on what one could bring in. The UK customs authority however insists that what is brought in must be for personal use only - problem is though, how does one prove that one is going to smoke all that and drink all that personally only? And its not good enough for them to have to prove otherwise - reasonable suspicion that you're not is sufficient.
The UK Govt gets mighty annoyed at people bringing in more than this "personal use" quantity, and confiscates it. The reason is that ciggies cost about GBP 5-00 per 20 pack here, and about GBP 2-00 in most other EU countries I can think of. The difference is in the taxes the Govt places on tobacco products - so for every packet one brings into the UK the Govt effectively loses GBP 3-00+ in revenue. Its the same on alcoholic drinks (a third to a half cheaper on the continent) and as a freight director I can tell you its the same on diesel (a third to a half cheaper on the continent); truckers are stopped and prosecuted for carrying dangerous goods without a permit, should they bring in more diesel than the permitted limit.
UK residents frequently cross to France, where the enterprising have set up supermarkets specifically to cater for Brits coming to buy there in order to save money. You should see the cars driving back up from Dover port at 45 degrees because they are so heavily overloaded with cheap booze and fags! However - these are the lucky escapees - many are stopped at the port, the stuff confiscated and the car too. There is no easy recourse in law as this seizure is effected by Her Majesty, not the police or some ordinary civil authority.
Now, none of us would argue that the black marketeers who drive truckloads in and sell them on are a problem - they make a dent of many millions of pounds a year in Govt revenues which the rest of us have to make up. Trouble is, they dont seem to ever chase those guys, or at least ever catch them. Instead they pick on ordinary citizens - easy targets I guess, for seizures and confiscations, followed by prosecution and a hefty fine on top.
Thats why one has to be careful about bringing ciggies into Treasure Island (sorry Great Britain) from continental Europe. Meanwhile in Northern Ireland (part of the UK), many petrol/diesel stations and many smaller retailers of booze and fags (off licences as we call them) have been put out of business - the Republic of Ireland border is so close and porous that cheaper supplies of all types pour across the border all the while, and why pay over the odds when you dont have to?
That bit of water between us and the continent has saved us many a time from attack and invasion - but it also means we pay much too much for so many things I'm afraid, because we dont have the option of going over the border so readily for a better deal. It should be noted that if the prices here were similar to those on the continent, the UK Govt would not have the problem and cost of policing what people bring back with them, and would likely raise as much revenue as they do now with all the smuggling, as there would be no incentive to try to get a cheaper deal in France and elsewhere and no incentive for the black marketeers. Since in Northern Ireland at least, the cigarette, fuel and booze is run in by the paramilitaries, such a change in taxes would also remove a source of income from those organisations.
Daft taxation in the UK? You bet! 20% income tax (average), 9% national insurance - both deducted from salary at source. 17.5% VAT (sales tax). 45% tax on business profits..... tax on tax on tax - for what I'd like to know!
Example - if my company makes 100k this year, the Govt will take 45k, leaving me with 55k. I then draw that as personal income and pay another 20% (at least) income tax on it, leaving me with 44k. Then I decide to buy some things with whats left - the Govt gets 17.5% of it. From my 100k, the Govt gets nearly 63k. And if I'd bought booze or ciggies with it they'd have got a lot more.
What do they do with all this money? A national health service that expects people to wait (and preferably die whilst waiting) for treatment, lots of tanks, planes and ships we dont need any more but like to have so we can pretend at being an Empire still, social benefits for the workshy and for young women who get pregnant deliberately to get social housing (all paid for by tax), pensioners who have paid taxes all their lives forced to live on a pittance, overcrowded roads and the worst public transport possibly in the world etc.
Some might suggest we change the Govt - only problem there is that not one of our parties that stands a chance of being elected to Govt has ever shown any intention of reducing tax by tackling the stuff we dont need or any ability to use the heavy tax burden to do anything about the problems we have. That said, and despite the way he sucks up to Bush, Blair and New Labour have probably done more than any to date on these matters - but its still not resolved!
E
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