Tobacco and alcohol tax stamps

Excise duty on cigarettes and alcohol is a vital source of government revenue as well as being a means of controlling consumption. The illicit trade of these and other products through tax evasion smuggling and counterfeiting costs treasuries billions of dollars a year in lost revenue. Nor is the cost purely a financial one – the damage caused by illicit trade to a company’s brand reputation loss of sales and market capitalisation is almost incalculable.

Accountants and other tax practitioners who deal with the tobacco and alcohol sector need to be aware of this and of the role of tax stamps in countering illicit trade. However there appears to be widespread lack of knowledge and understanding about these stamps and their key functions.

Fraud prevention

Tax stamps are an integral element of secure track and trace (T&T) programmes an ideal bearer of the digital...