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Fuel smuggling costs UK more than illth
Page 13
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• Fuel fraudsters are costing the government up to 1980m a year, says the National Audit Office, and fuel smugglers are risking lives by transporting huge quantities of fuel in makeshift tanks hidden on the back of trucks between Northern Ireland, Eire and the UK.
In the report Tackling
Indirect Tax Fraud, Customs officials claim that last year between 1450m and .1980m was lost in fuel duty in the UK; up from 1200m the previous year. In Northern Ireland the figure is about 1750m.
Fuel smuggling is mainly due to the vast difference in the price of fuel between the South and North of Ireland. As of last month there was a 38% (29p/lit) difference in the price of fuel between the Republic of Ireland and the UK.
In 2000/01 Northern Irish Customs officers seized 312 vehicles involved in smuggling 3.25 million litres of fuel—three times more than in 1999/2000.