Excise Duty

Excise duty is a special tax on consumption goods that are legal, but their use is discouraged. E.g. Alcohol and tobacco, but also petrol. Let's see what duty is needed in principle for each of these products before we ax this unpopular notion.

Alcohol becomes a lot more expensive (see Alcohol); also because of the water used to produce lets say beer, the high cost in transport and the distance of the sources of raw materials. When there is a possibility to produce a local alcoholic beverage, the price will be so high that an extra duty won't be needed.

Fuels are a lot more extreme, even though just a little more expensive (in Red) per litre, the consumption lies a lot higher. Compared to the Euro price, petrol will be about ten times as expensive. No need for excise duty there.

Tobacco is addictive and is unhealthy, and it's imported. I predict we will pay only Red and Blue. Taking the content of the ashtrays back to the plantations I don't see feasible. This will convince producers and users alike to change to other, more environmentally friendly alternatives such as Sage, Lungwort, Coltsfoot, Rib-grass, Peppermint and Red Clover. Also Hemp can be taken into consideration. In fact we will return to a pre 1600 situation when tobacco was still unknown in Holland and everybody smoked home grown plants. We'll have to wait and see whether we need excise duty for these alternatives, and this will depend on their addictive effects, effects on health and price.