Excise stamp

Excise stamps are often as detailed in their design as banknotes - usually made from the same type of paper and containing holograms and other anti-counterfeit devices.

The reason for such measures is that excise duty is extremely expensive, in most EU countries accounting for around half the market price of the product.

The excise stamps are ideally affixed with strong glue over the cap of a bottle or across the lid of a box of cigarettes (and underneath the plastic/foil wrapper on the bottleneck or the cellophane of the cigarette-box) in such a way that they are destroyed when the product is opened.

[dubious – discuss](view image) While these are usually printed on the back label of the bottle by the manufacturer rather than being a special security bought from the government, they still have to adhere to strict specifications, such as containing UV-visible inks.

[2] UK law does not require such physical stamps for cigarettes, either - instead, the words "UK Duty Paid" are printed in bold on all packs as part of the manufacturing process, while other forms of control are implemented by HM Revenue & Customs to verify that this is indeed the case.