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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:53 pm
Time: 8:53 pm
Results for tobacco smuggling (american samoa)
1 results foundAuthor: Johnson, Bryan M. Title: Report: Feasibility Study of a Cigarette Tax Stamp Program in American Samoa Summary: A recent TAO report (May 2011) found that cigarettes were likely being smuggled into American Samoa and that as a result the government of the territory (ASG) was losing a significant of amount of cigarette excise tax revenue each year. The TAO report recommended that ASG implement a cigarette tax stamp program in order to control and prevent this smuggling. In support of that TAO recommendation, a feasibility study of a cigarette tax stamp program in American Samoa was commissioned by the American Samoa Community Cancer Network, and a report on the results of that feasibility study made. In order to establish the need for a cigarette tax stamp program, the feasibility study estimated the number of cigarettes that had been smuggled into American Samoa in 2010. That estimate (based on an analysis of demographic and cigarette excise tax data) indicated that as many as 5,792,924 cigarettes had been smuggled into the territory that year (smuggling referring to both the evasion and avoidance of excise taxes), which at the territory‟s cigarette excise tax rate of $0.125 per cigarette represented a revenue loss to ASG of $724,116. According to that estimate, the percentage of revenue losses to the government of American Samoa due to cigarette smuggling in 2010 was 8.4 percent, but the study calculated that even if the percentage of excise tax revenue lost to cigarette smuggling was only 3 to 5 percent, the revenue losses in 2010 would have still ranged from $257,547 to $429,247. Therefore, the study came to the following conclusions: 1. Based on an analysis of available data as well as other evidence, it was likely that millions of cigarettes were smuggled into the territory each year and that this smuggling deprived the government of American Samoa of hundreds of thousands of dollars. 2. That the territory‟s smuggling problem would continue and was likely to become worse in the near future if the cigarette excise tax rate were to be increased, and that such smuggling would deprive the government of badly-needed revenue and pose an on-going threat to public health. 3. That the government should take immediate measures to combat the problem, including the implementation of a cigarette tax stamp program. 4. That such a program would facilitate the control and tracking of cigarettes imported into American Samoa and would be cost-effective. In support of its recommendation to implement a cigarette tax stamp program, the feasibility study‟s report: Discusses the current regulatory environment in American Samoa regarding the importation and sale of cigarettes into the territory Examines possible sources of cigarettes smuggled into American Samoa Explains what a cigarette tax stamp is and how it works Discusses how a cigarette tax stamp program in American Samoa would work and what would be needed to implement this program Estimates the costs involved in establishing this program and its potential economic benefits Discusses cigarette tax stamp programs in place in several states in the U.S. (especially Hawaii, which could serve as a model for American Samoa) The study report‟s CD also contains information on where and how to purchase and/or obtain tax stamping machines and tax stamps as well as further technical assistance (in the “Resources” file). Details: American Samoa: American Samoa Community Cancer Network, 2011. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2013 at: http://tiotala.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AS_cig_tax_stamp_study_report.pdf Year: 2011 Country: International URL: http://tiotala.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AS_cig_tax_stamp_study_report.pdf Shelf Number: 129481 Keywords: Cigarette TaxesIllegal ProductsTobacco Smuggling (American Samoa) |