Taxation, Customs and Excise.

UK Finance Act 2001 (Legislation In Force) (External Web Page)

Provisions in the Act set out rates of duty on tobacco products.

A breakdown of tobacco tax can be obtained by using ASH’s Tax Calculator. The calculator shows how the different elements of tobacco tax contribute to the retail price (can be edited and downloaded as MS Excel spreadsheet). This also includes a calculator for showing how much it costs to be a smoker.

The Finance Act 2006 (Tobacco Products Duty: Evasion) (Appointed Day) Order 2006 (External Web Page)

This Order imposes a duty on tobacco manufacturers to avoid supplying cigarettes or hand-rolling tobacco to persons likely to smuggle them into the UK.

The Tobacco Products (Amendment) Regulations 2006 (External Web Page)

These regulations set out the obligations of tobacco companies not to facilitate smuggling. In the case of seized goods, tobacco manufacturers are required to supply detailed information about the products such as the intended customer and destination.

Tobacco Products Duty Act 1979 Chapter 7

This sets out the duty of tobacco manufacturers not to facilitate smuggling and is the primary law supporting the 2006 Tobacco Products (Amendment) Regulations

UK Tobacco Product Regulations 2001 (In Force) (External Web Page)
In 1999, amidst concern for the rise in tobacco smuggling, The Chancellor of the Exchequer commissioned Martin Taylor to conduct an independent evaluation into the government anti-smuggling strategy. The result was a series of recommendations represented in a report Tackling Tobacco Smuggling, which is the main statement of policy on tackling tobacco smuggling.

One of the recommendations adopted by the Government from Mr Taylor’s study was to print prominent fiscal markings on tobacco product packaging to indicate ‘UK Duty Paid’ to distinguish between legitimate trade and contraband trafficking.

The Tobacco Product Regulations 2001 requires tobacco products to carry a ‘UK Duty Paid’ marking and any retailers failing to comply are liable to a fine up to £5000.

The Channel Tunnel (Alcoholic Liquor and Tobacco Products) Order 2000 (In Force) (External Web Page)

With the Channel Tunnel an increasingly popular thoroughfare between the UK and mainland Europe, this legislation deems goods being brought into Britain via France to be commensurate to goods being imported as soon as they enter the control zone of the French side.

This enables determinations to be made on imported tobacco and alcohol via the tunnel in the same way that they are in the United Kingdom.

This order applies to certain provisions relating to the relief from payment of excise duty on imported alcohol and tobacco conferred on Community travellers.

EU Council Directive 92/12/EEC (In Force) (External Web Page)
This directive rules on the general arrangements for products subject to excise duty and on the holding, movement and monitoring of such products.

In addition, the directive lays down arrangement for products that are subject to excise duties and other taxes that are levied directly or indirectly on the consumption of these products.

Importantly, in the absence of restrictions on the movement of products such as tobacco and alcohol between member states, Article 9 of Directive 92/12/EEC sets out guidelines for national governments on quantities considered not to be of commercial volumes.

EU Council Directive 92/79/EEC (External Web Page)
The EU has applied limits governing the structure of tobacco duties (see directives 92/79/EEC on cigarettes, 92/80/EEC on products other than cigarettes and 95/59/EC). These may have had some effect in raising minimum duties, but their prime purpose is to stop the use of the excise tax system acting as a protectionist barrier to trade.

A new proposal to restructure and raise minimum excise duties (Council Proposal COM/2001/0133 final) had been proposed by the Commission. The proposal included measures to discourage traffic flows of contraband tobacco products from low tax bracket member states to higher rate member countries. But the proposal suffered a defeat in the European Parliament and was not adopted.

EU Council Directive 92/80/EEC (External Web Page)

EU Council Directive 95/59/EC (External Web Page)