till to this day, I've belived they miscalculated e impact of
duty increases
1) Cigs. I remembered when LHL became FM, prices of cig went up
by abt 250% from 2002 - 2007. It ended up lots of smuggling and MOF
did not receive a single cent of duties thnks to e decision and $$
gotta be spent to play cat and mouse game. Of course it illegal
immigrant makes e matter sticky
2) Wine. I remembered those cooking wine or those Rose wine was
quite cheap, prices went up by 200%. It ended up ppl importing wine
w/ salt content to avoid e tax duties (anything abv 2% in salt
content are deemed as not fit for oral consumption, hence not
taxable). I wonder how much is e tax losses due to this
I believe it explains why MIW's coffers
is dipping actually
The scholars can't figure out e mess they created
for themselves, e society and the country
