Easy way to make money

EnigmasWhisper

Why not just slap an extra E5 on the price of a packet of cigarettes ? 27%of the population smoke, so if even 20% of them buy a packet a day thats an extra..... one billion six hundred eighty million extra money a year ? Sure some will cut down but Im betting that at least a Billion a year could be made

smurgen

well you're assuming that all current smokers would continue to smoke. fags like any other product is subject to the iron law if demand and if prices rise, demand should fall.if demand falls then revenues arising from the purchasing of these fags should fall also

pebbles21

One third of smokers already buy cigs either illegally or from other E U countries or smuggle in their own

If they were to increase the price like you suggest i think maybe 90% of smokers would do the same

amacachi

EnigmasWhisper wrote: »

Why not just slap an extra E5 on the price of a packet of cigarettes ? 27%of the population smoke, so if even 20% of them buy a packet a day thats an extra..... one billion six hundred eighty million extra money a year ? Sure some will cut down but Im betting that at least a Billion a year could be made

Really think that'll work? Could people, I dunno, buy less, or buy from elsewhere? How many people do you think will pay 13.50 for a box on a regular basis, really?

lalahoho

oh yeah, and the crime rate would go up.

mikemac

Smuggling is already huge, it's just rocket upwards even more

EnigmasWhisper

amacachi wrote: »

Really think that'll work? Could people, I dunno, buy less, or buy from elsewhere? How many people do you think will pay 13.50 for a box on a regular basis, really?

Sure they could, thats their perogative. Even allowing for the plausable variables you mention there is still a massive gain in extra revenue to be found. Smoking is an addiction, an unfortunate one at that, but nevertheless people on a whole will still smoke, and pay.

mikemac wrote: »

Smuggling is already huge, it's just rocket upwards even more

True

mikemac

Do you plan to give a few million to Customs? They'll be needing every bit of funding they can get

x PyRo

Why punish smokers though ?. Why not add a fiver to every pint ?.

It's easy when it doesn't affect you.

x PyRo

x PyRo wrote: »

Why punish smokers though ?. Why not add a fiver to every pint ?.

It's easy when it doesn't affect you.

I don't drink or smoke, but I'd imagine an extra €5 on each pint would see many pubs go bust almost instantly.

keane2097

I think there's a little bit of scope for increase, but a fiver on top of current prices would almost certainly see revenue collected dropping for a litany of reasons.

Economics isn't so simple as your idea would like to make it...

x PyRo

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't drink or smoke, but I'd imagine an extra €5 on each pint would see many pubs go bust almost instantly.

Well i'll be bust if i have to pay an extra €5 for 20 Benson & Hedges!.

amacachi

EnigmasWhisper wrote: »

Sure they could, thats their perogative. Even allowing for the plausable variables you mention there is still a massive gain in extra revenue to be found. Smoking is an addiction, an unfortunate one at that, but nevertheless people on a whole will still smoke, and pay.

Even if consumption did stay the same, the amount bought in shops would fall massively and you're taking the piss if you can't see that. I can't think of anyone I know who'd buy at that price other than once in a while if they got caught empty handed some day.

Dannyboy83

EnigmasWhisper wrote: »

Why not just slap an extra E5 on the price of a packet of cigarettes ? 27%of the population smoke, so if even 20% of them buy a packet a day thats an extra..... one billion six hundred eighty million extra money a year ? Sure some will cut down but Im betting that at least a Billion a year could be made

If you want to make more money from smokers, then you lower the price, not increase it. Increasing it means you lose more money, and see more either leaving the country, or worse, going into the hands of drug dealers & criminals.
In Cork, you'll pay €4.50 for a box of Polish/Lithuanian Marlboro cigarettes, €4 to 3.50 for Ukranian, €3 for Russian LM and then for the Chinese/Philipino stuff, you're talking below Spanish prices.

This was in July

The illegal trade is reaching epidemic proportions and one estimate, for the losses to the exchequer per year by the end of 2010 of excise duties and VAT, has been put at €750 million.
With a counter price of €8.45, Ireland has the highest average cost for a packet of 20 cigarettes in the EU.
One 40ft container shipped into this country from the Baltic would make the smuggler in excess of €1m in profit after the transportation costs were paid.
Last year it was estimated that one-in-five cigarettes smoked in Ireland were illegal. Mr Redmond said this year it had risen to one-in-four and was heading to more than one-in-three.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/snqlcwqlau/rss2/#ixzz0YJ1uYTRW

This was at the start of the month

Largest Ever European Illegal Cigarette Haul Uncovered In Ireland

http://www.blatantnews.com/news/largest_ever_european_illegal_cigarette_haul_uncovered_in_ireland.html

This was 2 weeks ago

http://www.independent.ie/breaking-news/national-news/action-call-over-tobacco-smuggling-1940790.html

Eight tonnes of tobacco leaf, ready to be rolled into 12 million cigarettes, was recovered coming through Dublin Port on Monday.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what is going on here.
Anyone who had ever read a book on Al Capone or Elliot Ness should be able to figure it out.
People here moan about the money that Poles sent home during the Celtic Tiger..............if they're making 100% profit on a box of cigarettes, how much do you think they are sending home now?

Obviously you don't want to lower the price too much, you don't want to make it too easy for young people to start smoking. But it should at least by lowered by €3, so that it matches the UK Price.
That way people wouldn't be bothered buying contraband anymore and the government would probably get equal revenue, while paying far less to customs, police and less worrying about pikeys buying heroin and guns.

Michael O'Leary, commenting on government stupidity, was mentioning how they decided they would tax all tourists by an extra €10 instead of growing the amount of tourists by 10,000.
Drop the price of a pint by €1.50 and people will drink 3 more.

The government seem to get this assways with everything except Property and Section 23/Tax , where they should have probably never done it to begin with.

And to top it fof, The Irish Cancer Society are calling for a 1 Euro increase in price, to stop people smoking, despite experts on Prime Time telling them in plain English what the problem is.
That is the type of stupidity we are up against in this country.

Empires are led by an Emperor.
Kingdoms are led by a King.
The Irish country is led by an ..........

Edit:
Note that if one 40ft container shipped into this country from the Baltic would make the smuggler in excess of €1m in profit after the transportation costs were paid, and the total revenue lost this year was in excess of €750million (€1 to 4Zloty/4Litas)...........well, you do the math on how many containers customs are NOT catching..........

If I had shares in a shipping company, I'd be lobbying millions for a price increase

Duiske

EnigmasWhisper wrote: »

Why not just slap an extra E5 on the price of a packet of cigarettes ? 27%of the population smoke, so if even 20% of them buy a packet a day thats an extra..... one billion six hundred eighty million extra money a year ? Sure some will cut down but Im betting that at least a Billion a year could be made

With excise duty and VAT, the Government take from tobacco is a little under 80% of retail price. So, with your increase the average pack of 20 would increase from roughly 8.50 to about 13.50, of which the Government would get 10.80. Not bad !!

But.... if the increase was that much, i'd just go up north once a month and stock up, saving myself about 120 after travel expenses.

Your maths are good, but your argument is flawed.

Mr Yellow

- Legalize some drugs

- Legalize sex industry to a degree (like red light of leitrim etc ha)

- Re-introduce death peanalty (re cost of prisoner per year in prison for lifetime vs death penalty)

KungPao

An easy way to make money? By making a product too expensive to buy legally? but yet is relatively easy to obtain illegally at a much lower price?

As far as I can see, the smugglers would be making a hell of a lot more money, and the state would be making less.

I know shag all about economics, but I think the winners here, would be the smugglers and also the smokers who previously bought legally and switched to contraband.

If I had the choice of buying cigarettes for €13 in a shop, or €6/7 (possible adjusted price) from a shady character in an alley....I know which I'd choose.

I agree with a previous poster, that the price should be reduced, as it would actually make more for the state.

PatrickD32

If it was that simple it would have been done.

Would more than likely lead to more organised crime and petty theft.
Even more people smoking dodgy fags from china etc.
More dodgy and normal fags being bought on the border also.

All in all if they upped the price by that much its going to end up making people smuggling fags richer and the government will lose out in the end.

Like they already are.

I dont smoke but 90% of my friends do, and in the last year Ive seen alot of them starting to smoke fags, not from a shop.

If anything they should legalise weed ha!

Or give nightclubs later opening times, say 5am.
This would mean guards would be more on demand, fair enough.
But if pubs/clubs closed at different times, their would not be as much trouble when crowds from different venues clash on streets etc.

And Ireland being Ireland, alot of alcohol would be purchased from 2am til 5 around the country.

bangersandmash

x PyRo wrote: »

Why punish smokers though ?. Why not add a fiver to every pint ?.

It's easy when it doesn't affect you.

Tourist industry? It's already expensive enough to eat & drink here by international standards. How many American tourists will pay €11 a pint in Temple Bar instead of €6?

In either case measures that effectively decrease the tax intake will affect all tax-payers - the deficit would need to be made up elsewhere.

Rujib1

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't drink or smoke, but I'd imagine an extra €5 on each pint would see many pubs go bust almost instantly.

well what do you do :rolleyes: Whatever it is that you do, why not propose a tax on that to generate revenue for gov. Charity begins at home:eek:

jackiebaron

Mr Yellow wrote: »

- Legalize some drugs

- Legalize sex industry to a degree (like red light of leitrim etc ha)

- Re-introduce death peanalty (re cost of prisoner per year in prison for lifetime vs death penalty)

I believe it costs more to keep a prisoner on Death Row than in general population. There are appeals, special reviews, added surveillance and increased staff. That's just the economic side of things that you mention.

On the moral side the death penalty is barbaric and savage. It is nothing but revenge and should stay banned in Ireland.

Fighting Irish

EnigmasWhisper wrote: »

Why not just slap an extra E5 on the price of a packet of cigarettes ? 27%of the population smoke, so if even 20% of them buy a packet a day thats an extra..... one billion six hundred eighty million extra money a year ? Sure some will cut down but Im betting that at least a Billion a year could be made

:rolleyes:

Fighting Irish

Ever since the last increase i have been getting smokes from outside the country. I only buy about 20% of my smokes in Irish shops now

Zascar

pebbles21 wrote: »

One third of smokers already buy cigs either illegally or from other E U countries or smuggle in their own

If they were to increase the price like you suggest i think maybe 90% of smokers would do the same

I know a guy who works for an airline and is from eastern europe. He brings over suitcases of cigaretts every week and makes an absolute fortune, while selling them for half the price. This would just accellerate

dvpower

Zascar wrote: »

I know a guy who works for an airline and is from eastern europe. He brings over suitcases of cigaretts every week and makes an absolute fortune, while selling them for half the price. This would just accellerate

Going abroad to buy your own cigarettes is a legimitate thing to do.

Bringing them in by the suitcase load for resale is smuggling. But, you're right; it will increase, if people who know about it don't report it to the Customs & Excise.

Revenue.ie wrote:

There Are Heavy Penalties For Smuggling
If you notice anything suspicious or if you have any information on drug smuggling or smuggling of any kind tell a Customs Officer or contact:
Freephone 1800-295 295
Don't Ignore It - Report It!

Zascar

You can only bring in ~400 for yourself, anything more is not allowed and looked upon as smuggling if you have a suitcase full.

Are you telling me you would honestly report a friend of yours to the authorities and get them in lots of trouble?

dvpower

Zascar wrote: »

You can only bring in ~400 for yourself, anything more is not allowed and looked upon as smuggling if you have a suitcase full.

You can bring in 200 duty free cigarettes.
Afaik, if you pay duty in another EU country you can bring in any amount as long as they are for personal use e.g. not for resale. What constitutes this is subjective and the Customs may have some indicitive figure (400) but its not set in stone.

Zascar wrote: »

Are you telling me you would honestly report a friend of yours to the authorities and get them in lots of trouble?

It depends on what kind of illegal activity they were up to. Are you saying that you would not report a friend to the authorities no matter what they did?

If your friend is smuggling a suitcase of cigarettes every week, then he is a serious criminal and should be reported.

dvpower

Here's the rules


Goods bought in another EU country
You will not be charged any extra duty or VAT on purchases where the duty and VAT has been paid (for example, goods bought in shops, supermarkets, etc.) in another EU country, provided the goods are for your personal use.
If your purchases are equivalent to or less than the quantities set out in the table below, they will usually be regarded as being for your personal use. If you exceed these quantities, you may have to demonstrate at Customs that the goods are for your personal use.

Alcohol and tobacco allowances for travellers to Ireland from EUGoodsMaximum quantity allowed
Cigarettes 800
Cigarillos 400
Cigars 200
Smoking tobacco 1 kg
Spirits (whiskey, vodka, gin, etc.) 10 litres
Intermediate Products (e.g. sherry, port, etc., excluding sparkling wine) 20 litres
Wine (only 60 litres of sparkling wine allowed) 90 litres
Beer 110 litres


There are specific limits on the amount of tobacco products allowed that have been purchased in the following EU countries:

• Estonia - 200 cigarettes OR 250g smoking tobacco
• Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia - 200 cigarettes

Zascar

dvpower wrote: »

It depends on what kind of illegal activity they were up to. Are you saying that you would not report a friend to the authorities no matter what they did?

If your friend is smuggling a suitcase of cigarettes every week, then he is a serious criminal and should be reported.

I barely know the person and I only heard the story from one of his friends. I tend to keep my nose out of other people's business that does not concern me. he's selling a few smokes on the side, he's hardly a kiddly fiddler.

beeno67

Zascar wrote: »

I barely know the person and I only heard the story from one of his friends. I tend to keep my nose out of other people's business that does not concern me. he's selling a few smokes on the side, he's hardly a kiddly fiddler.

Zascar wrote: »

He brings over suitcases of cigaretts every week and makes an absolute fortune

"Suitcases every week" and "makes an absolute fortune" sounds like serious smuggling to me certainly a lot more than "a few smokes on the side"

Buffy the bitch

dvpower wrote: »

Here's the rules


Goods bought in another EU country
You will not be charged any extra duty or VAT on purchases where the duty and VAT has been paid (for example, goods bought in shops, supermarkets, etc.) in another EU country, provided the goods are for your personal use.
If your purchases are equivalent to or less than the quantities set out in the table below, they will usually be regarded as being for your personal use. If you exceed these quantities, you may have to demonstrate at Customs that the goods are for your personal use.

Alcohol and tobacco allowances for travellers to Ireland from EUGoodsMaximum quantity allowed
Cigarettes 800
Cigarillos 400
Cigars 200
Smoking tobacco 1 kg
Spirits (whiskey, vodka, gin, etc.) 10 litres
Intermediate Products (e.g. sherry, port, etc., excluding sparkling wine) 20 litres
Wine (only 60 litres of sparkling wine allowed) 90 litres
Beer 110 litres


There are specific limits on the amount of tobacco products allowed that have been purchased in the following EU countries:

• Estonia - 200 cigarettes OR 250g smoking tobacco
• Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia - 200 cigarettes

You could always say you or someone in your family is getting married you can bring a lot more in than what's in the chart.

As for the fags I don't smoke them but you can get them cheaper than €13 a packet online.