27 February 2024 , 23:04
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Smokers may be forced to fork out more for cigarettes as the cost of a packet could reach up to £16 at next week's Budget.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering a price hike for cigarettes on March 6 by increasing tobacco duty. This is to keep a tax on smoking alternatives - including vapes - cheaper. Currently, Britain is one of the most expensive places in Europe to buy a packet, with the average cost of 20 cigarettes around £14.39.
The decision comes as Rishi Sunak is trying to deliver a tough stance on smoking, especially since he is anti-tobacco himself. At the Conservative party conference last year, he announced plans to outlaw smoking to anyone born after 2009 by raising the legal age year-on-year.
As well as that, disposable vapes are set to be banned too. Next week's Budget may see a new vape tax on imported e-cigarettes to make them less affordable for children.
The duty will apply to the liquid in vapes, with higher levels for products with more nicotine. Sources told The Sun that the extra tax hike on fags is designed to ensure that vapes are still the cheaper option for smokers.
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The vape tax is being modelled on European schemes, such as Germany which imposed a €1.60 duty on every 10ml of vape liquid. The two new levies will likely bring in half a billion pounds to the struggling Treasury coffers.
But tobacco firms have today warned the soaring price of fags is driving illegal black market sales. HMRC estimates that £9.3 billion in tax revenue has been lost due to illegal tobacco sales.
Research suggests that a quarter of cigarettes and 38 per cent of rolling tobacco sold in the UK swerves tax. Sarah Connor of JTI UK told The Sun: “Unreasonable tobacco taxes fuel criminal sales of illegal tobacco, cost taxpayers’ money and drive-up inflation.”