Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.
Crime Doesn't Pay -Or Should It? LEONARD BESSELlNK* On July 5, 1988 the European Court of Justice decided that the Nether- lands' Inland Revenue may no longer levy Value Added Tax on the sale of narcotic drugs!, The Inland Revenue's practice to levy VAT on the street trade in amphetamines, cannabis products, heroin, cocaine etcetera, to which the European Court put an end, may on the face of it be shocking to the onlooker. No doubt the practice provided further fuel for some foreign- ers' image of the Netherlands as a licentious drug paradise: even the government does not shun the profit that can be had from drugs. This image needs to be placed in its somewhat less colourful context. The sale of all narcotic drugs, from amphetamines and hashish to heroin and cocaine, is illegal in the Netherlands as elsewhere. Moreover , VAT and other taxes such as income and capital tax, have been levied on all activities. Thus the Netherlands' Supreme Court had previously decided that the income a burglar enjoys from stolen goods is subject to income tax 2 • So the State of the Netherlands has profited financially from all kinds of illegal activities,
Grotiana – Brill
Published: Jan 1, 1987
Read and print from thousands of top scholarly journals.
Already have an account? Log in
Bookmark this article. You can see your Bookmarks on your DeepDyve Library.
To save an article, log in first, or sign up for a DeepDyve account if you don’t already have one.
Copy and paste the desired citation format or use the link below to download a file formatted for EndNote
Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
All DeepDyve websites use cookies to improve your online experience. They were placed on your computer when you launched this website. You can change your cookie settings through your browser.