Last year, excise duty evaded on beer, wine and spirits amounted to 17 million euros and 10.9 million in 2017, it emerged from Roel Deseyn's (CD&V) written question to the minister of finance Alexander De Croo (Open Vld), De Tijd reported on Tuesday. Fraud has been on the rise since the government increased duty in 2015, the paper noted.
Evaded duty on alcohol was 30 times less in 2015, standing at 563,028 euros. In 2016, this amount reached 19,497,700 euros. The decision to increase duty, therefore, appears to have given fraud a helping hand.
The Belgian state is the biggest loser from this action. During the year following the increase, the revenue from duty on alcoholic drinks went from 778 million to about 830 million euros, before falling back to 815 million.
The Brussels Times
Tax evasion on alcohol sales increases in Belgium
