07 July 2008
Excise duty is a levy on the producer of certain goods, commodities and activities. It is a separate from VAT, and is different from it in that VAT directly affects the consumer, although, naturally, the consumer also indirectly pays the excise, as it is included in the eventual sale price of the product.
What is interesting about excise tax is how vague it actually is - it would be difficult, if at all possible, to find a precise definition explaining what it is that categorizes goods subject to excise tax. Lists of such goods are readily provided by governments, and it is possible to guess at what might be the motive for grouping such goods together; however, no explicit, formal definition is provided: