Duty-free tobacco and illegal hookah components seized from a private enterprise in Vitebsk

October 25, Vitebsk / Sergey Kochetov - BELTA /. About 30 kg of hookah tobacco without excise stamps were seized by tax authorities at a private retail outlet in Vitebsk, the press center of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties Inspectorate for the Vitebsk region informed a BELTA correspondent. During an unscheduled operational inspection using the control purchase method, tax officials found that the company was selling loose hookah tobacco in one of its retail outlets, which was not properly marked with excise stamps. In addition, the company offered hookah accessories to customers, but could not document the legality of their purchase. In total, the illegal sale of about 30 kg of tobacco and 50 hookah accessories worth almost Br5 million was stopped. Also, during the raid on the retail outlets of this company, facts of selling coffee and tea without control (identification) marks worth about Br0.6 million were revealed. An administrative process has been initiated for violating the legislation regulating the circulation of tobacco raw materials and tobacco products under Article 12.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Belarus, which provides for a fine of 250 to 300 basic units with confiscation of the object of the offense. In total, from January to September of the current year, tax inspectorates in the region have identified almost 750 violations in the production and circulation of excisable goods. Over 7.2 thousand liters of beer, as well as alcoholic and non-food alcohol-containing products, almost 500 thousand pieces of tobacco products, and about 8.6 thousand liters of petroleum products worth over Br150 million were seized from illegal circulation. Taxpayers were additionally charged over Br0.5 billion in taxes to be paid to the budget. In total, almost 700 business entities and citizens were brought to administrative responsibility, and the amount of fines exceeded Br420 million. -0-