21 February 2023 , 12:18
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The price of a 20 pack of cigarettes will rise by £1.15 next month with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt expected to raise tobacco duty, according to reports.
Cigarettes levies will reportedly go up by 12.7% in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI), plus an extra minimum 2% on top which is applied to tobacco products.
If this is to go ahead in the Spring Budget, the price of a pack would jump by more than 15%, reports The Sun.
The price of a 30g pack of hand-rolling tobacco could go up by £2.
This would be the biggest increase in the price of cigarettes the UK has ever seen.
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Currently, the duty paid on cigarettes is 16.5% of the retail price plus an extra £5.26 on a packet of 20.
The amount of duty paid on cigarettes usually increases with inflation each year unless the Chancellor intervenes.
The Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) group has also come forward to oppose an increase in this level stating that the "primary purpose" of increasing tax above inflation is to reduce the affordability of tobacco products.
However, the group noted that RPI is "not a good measure of affordability" at the current time when wages are not keeping pace with inflation.
In a statement, ASH said: "A better measure of affordability is average earnings, as is used in Australia and we recommend that the UK switch from using RPI to average weekly earnings increase as the foundation for the tobacco tax escalator.
"The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates that average weekly earnings will have grown by 5.4% in the fiscal year 2022-3, and are expected to grow by 4.2% in 2023, while the figures for RPI are 13.0% and 8.3%."
In the Spring Statement last year, then-Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that cigarette prices were not going to rise as part of his budget.
This meant that the last time cigarette prices were increased was in October 2021 when 88p was added to the most expensive pack increasing it from £12.73 to just over £13.60.
Over the last 20 or so years, the Government has actively worked to prevent new smokers with the introduction of several new laws.
Currently, the UK is working toward making the country "smoke-free" by 2030 which would mean that less than 5% of UK adults would have the habit.
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The Spring Budget is set for March 15 2023 and currently, it is expected that the Chancellor has planned a "slimmed down" budget with no immediate tax cuts.