The European Court of Justice has banned the online purchasing of alcohol. Now Europeans won’t be able to order online alcoholic drinks over the Internet from the other countries in EU in order to avoid taxes in their own countries.
The recent interpretation of EU policies states that in order to benefit from cheaper taxes elsewhere, consumers have to travel to the EU country for inquiry and pick up their purchases.
The UK, Sweden and Denmark have the highest taxes on booze and alcohol.
UK Treasury earns about £16 billion a year in revenue from duty on cigarettes and alcohol and this decision brings immense relief to UK treasury.
The UK Treasury spokesman said:
The government is pleased that the European Court of Justice has accepted the arguments which it and other member states put forward in support of the current arrangements. The government continues to strongly support the right of individuals to benefit from the freedoms of the EU single market but remains determined to crack down on those who seek to abuse those rights.
Ken Patel, of the Retailers Against Smuggling, said:
We are very relieved. If the proposals had gone ahead, the livelihoods of many of our corner shopkeepers would have been seriously threatened.
The European Court of Justice, on a proposal by a group of Dutch wine fans, ruled that “only products acquired and transported personally by private individuals are exempt from excise duty in the member state of importation”.
The verdict was even scheduled in Britain and Ireland, where alcohol and cigarette taxes are generally high as compared with the continent.
