~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C'punks, On Sun, 15 Oct 1995, Black Unicorn wrote:
At some point, the only thing your going to be able to tax is "Goods." As in solid and measureable.
When this is true, the most profitable venture in the United States will be retail smuggling. And as taxes are raised again and again, compliance will drop and drop until the largest portion of the national budget will be enforcement of the Value Tax Reform and Retail Laundering and Terrorism Act of 2002.
There is an article in this week's issue of THE EUROPEAN about cigarette smuggling in Europe. There is some regulatory arbitrage from south to north because of disparities in the local taxes on tobacco, but the big "problem" is American cigarettes. Since even in the lowest tax European countries taxes make up 70% of the retail price of cigarettes, there is huge incentive to smuggle in US smokes. Makes me proud to be an American. S a n d y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~