Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

Geert Wilder's populist PVV party is calling on the government to introduce a tax on soft drugs, the AD reports on Monday.

PVV MP Roland van Vliet called on junior tax minister Frans Weekers to be 'creative' in levying a tax on marijuana. With the government having to cut spending in so many areas, it is right that smokers make a contribution, Van Vliet said.

Marijuana is not legal in the Netherlands but police turn a blind eye to small amounts for personal use.

Weekers told the AD that European court rulings show countries cannot levy tax on banned substances.

However, the owners of 'coffee shops', the cafes where marijuana is freely sold, already pay tax on their turnover, including the revenue generated by soft drug sales.
http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2 ... tax_on.php

More having their cake and eating it i'm afraid.... The key word for me here is "creative", i see a lot more of this coming in the not too distant future, it's another way of telling the coffeeshops and the people like ourselves that they plan to come after us anyway they can. The prices will rise and the punters coming through the door will foot the bill.
My bet would be lots of action being taken during the 'cup' to gain their twisted publicity, whilst sending out the message "you free spending 'drug' tourists are not welcome". Idiots.
I can see raids on the shops to check for the usual, I.D.'s, amount of green on the premises and anything else "creative" they can think of. Anything to close a few shops and hit the headlines.....

This is good news actually. And indicates that Wilders is not actually against coffeeshops.

Marco wrote:This is good news actually. And indicates that Wilders is not actually against coffeeshops.

Yup agree,that would mean he accepts the principle of people buying cannabis in a legal manner.Although I would imagine that someone may have pointed this out from the above link and I quote--------------
Update: during Monday's parliamentary debate on the government's plans to amend tax regulations, Van Vliet said he would not pursue his demand and had no plans to say any more about the issue.

I reckon you might be right Marco, perhaps he's learn't a bit about politics and the futility of chasing a lost cause. .

The problem in my opinion is that by keeping it illegal, they miss out on the tax revenue from the growers. This would be quite a lot I reckon, creative way to tax should be legalization.

Interesting - taxing an illegal commodity. By virture of taxation you are in essence accepting its legality, otherwise the taxation itself is illegal. The Brits learned that the hard way - no taxation without represenatation!