Owners of fax machines in West Yorkshire are being targeted with offers of cut price cigarettes.

But the sales pitch has a sting in the tail which could leave the customers empty handed, according to Customs and Excise.

The faxes from Cigarettes UK offer packs of 200 from different manufacturers at prices ranging from £16.99 to £13.99.

They say it is legal to buy cigarettes from abroad without paying Excise duty.

They claim that by ordering through the business, the orders are processed through the Internet and the customers can avoid paying tax.

But that is wrong, according to a Leeds-based Customs and Excise spokesman.

"We have had six separate calls in a couple of days from people in West Yorkshire about this fax, which is a particularly high number," he said.

"The message says it is legal not to pay the tax on these cigarettes provided the order does not exceed 800 cigarettes - the limit for personal import indicated in the Customs guidelines.

"This is not true - buyers should be aware that it is an offence to obtain cigarettes on which duty has not been paid.

"One caller said it sounded too good to be true - and it is. A buyer risks seizure of the cigarettes.

"The Excise Duties (Personal Reliefs) Order 1992 states that to obtain relief from Excise duty, the goods must be carried with or accompanied by the traveller."

Recipients of the fax are given the number for Wigan-based Planet Telecom plc.

Managing director Peter Hutcheon said his staff sent out the faxes and received orders from customers which were then sent via the Internet to Luxembourg.

He said the issue of duty had already been investigated before the business started and legal advice had been obtained. Our understanding is that the order has to be processed abroad for it to become an EC transaction.

"But if this is what Customs are now saying, we will not get involved. We will cease operations immediately because I will have nothing to do with anything which breaches laws whatsoever."

He said his company was sending out faxes on behalf of Preston-based JS Holdings.

Its spokesman James Short said he would also stop trading until he had made further checks on the issue of duty.

"The last thing we want to do is to break any laws," he said. "We have already been told by Customs that what we are doing is all right so we will go back to them."

He confirmed the orders and credit card payments were sent via the Internet to a business in Luxembourg which he refused to name.

"I don't want to disclose who they are at the moment until I have spoken to them," he said.

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