Some tax-related news today from the other side of the pond. In Birmingham, England, two stores have been barred from selling alcohol as they had fake export labels. The report in the Birmingham Mail notes that the shops had over 200 bottles of non-taxed liquor.
This is very similar to the smuggling of cigarettes in the United States. In New York City, state and local taxes on cigarettes will add nearly $10 to the cost of a pack; it’s $0.17 in Missouri. That kind of differential breeds illegal activity.
In any case, two stores lost £2,000 of alcohol and later lost their licenses.