From: Wduq.org
Cigarette smuggling seems to be a great problem that governments all over the world are seriously combating along with cigarette smoking. It is not clear whether governments are sincerely worried about the effects on public health or about the plummeting cigarette revenue as cigarette contraband continues to increase.
Cigarette Contraband Involvement Penalty
In Cork City, Ireland, a survey said that one in three cigarettes smoked there could be contraband. The survey showed that this causes massive losses to the cigarette excise tax revenue. Irish Tobacco Manufacturers’ Advisory Committee demands fines amounting to 100, 000 euros to any person caught to be involved in tobacco smuggling.
The group stated that illegal gangs smuggling cigarettes to Ireland are said to earn 3 million euros every week. During the second quarter of 2011, discarded cigarette packets were examined in the Cork region and 7.9% of them have no signs of paid excise tax. Toward the end of 2011, this figure increased to 24.6%. During the last quarter of 2013, it even increased to 27.9%.
While it is possible that some packets were legitimately brought to the country by tourists and holidaymakers in order to avoid cigarette taxes in Ireland, suspicions remain that the majority of these cigarettes were indeed smuggled from South East Asia and Eastern Europe.
