Now Europe demands £15m from us in ‘vindictive’ garlic tax

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Now Europe demands £15m from us in ‘vindictive’ garlic tax

June 22nd, 2012

FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda

By
Mail Foreign Service

PUBLISHED:

18:59 EST, 21 June 2012

|

UPDATED:

18:59 EST, 21 June 2012

Britain is being sued by the European Commission in a long-running legal stink over an unpaid garlic bill for £15million.

The EU launched court action last night after an ultimatum to Britain to settle the bill for back taxes expired.

The row blew up after the UK mistakenly classified fresh garlic imported from China as frozen, which has a lower tax rate.

Causing a stink: Britain is being sued by the European Commission over an unpaid garlic bill for £15million

The Commission claims the uncollected taxes should have gone into EU coffers and insists Britain should foot the bill.

But the government has refused to pay up on the grounds that customs officers took all responsible precautions to collect the correct rate of tax when the garlic came into the country six years ago.

Last night, Conservative MEP group leader Richard Ashworth branded the move as ‘vindictive.’

‘I’m sorry to say, the aggressive approach of the Commission – over garlic of all things – leaves a bad taste in the mouth,’ he said.

‘In such hard times, when all countries including ours are looking to save every bit of money they can just to combat the debt crisis, it defies all sense of proportion to be taking Britain to court over what amounts to a demand for garlic tax.

‘Whether or not care for the aroma of garlic, nobody likes the whiff of vindictiveness,’ he added.

European Commission, in Brussels, launched court action after an ultimatum to Britain to settle the bill for back taxes expired

The mistake was revealed during an inspection by the European Anti-Fraud Office in 2006, which found that British customs didn’t levy enough duties on garlic imported in 2005 and 2006.

In 2006 alone, the UK imported 25,000 tons of fresh garlic from China.

In a statement released yesterday, the Commission said: ‘In failing to collect the correct amount, the UK authorities did not act with all due care.’

Claiming it was taking legal action ‘to protect the common EU interest’, the statement added: ‘Fair treatment of all member states must be ensured – if one member state fails to deliver on its obligation to collect the common resources of the EU budget, the other member states are forced to pay more as a result.’

All custom duties charged on imports from non-EU countries are collected by the relevant country and paid to the EU as part of their annual budget contributions.