Billion Dollar Baby: Contraband Tobacco’s Price Tag in Australia
A new report finds that sales of illegal tobacco has come with a high cost to the Australian government.
POTTS POINT, New South Wales – A booming illegal tobacco trade is costing the Australian government billions, according to the first report on illegal tobacco released since the introduction of plain packaging last year. The report, issued this week, shows the problem has worsened with the tobacco black market now booming with illicit cigarettes imported mainly from Asia and the Middle East.
The report was developed by KPMG LLP in the UK, and commissioned by British American Tobacco Australia (BATA), Philip Morris Limited and Imperial Tobacco Australia. It shows that the overall size of the market has grown from 11.8% to 13.3% and more than $1 billion (approximately $946 million in U.S. dollars) a year in excise revenue is being lost. The growth of the illegal market is consistent with evidence from covert purchases.
In BATA’s view, plain packaging, combined with our already high tobacco tax rates, and the previous government’s plan to increase tobacco excise by another 60% over the next four years, could see the illegal tobacco problem skyrocket. “Nearly 70% of every dollar sold from a legal pack of cigarettes goes to the government in taxes, which is why tobacco smuggling is such a lucrative venture for gangs as they obviously don’t pay any tax and pocket the profits instead,” said BATA spokesperson Scott McIntyre in a press release.
Related Posts
Fake Goods, Real Dangers.
The dangers of buying counterfeit products aren’t always obvious. There are...
Over 7 million cigarettes seized from smuggler in Greece
Greece: The cigarettes were being smuggled into European Union countries and the...
West Bengal: 3 arrested for printing counterfeit US dollars in Burdwan, BJP says TMC linked to the racket
On Thursday (May 19), the police had busted a factory, printing fake currency,...
Health warning: Pills you take may be fake
A 60-year-old Jiaxing man paid a company 280,000 yuan (US$42,607) to purchase...