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PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Tobacco: Smuggling (27 November 2014)

Question Asked

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps HM revenue and Customs is taking to tackle the tobacco tax gap.

Asked by:
Mark Garnier (Conservative)

Answer

Since 2000, HMRC’s tobacco fraud strategy has reduced the tax gap for cigarettes from 22% in 2000/01 to 10% in 2013/14, and the tax gap for hand-rolling tobacco from 61% to 39% in the same period.

The current strategy was launched in 2011 and adopts a holistic approach to tackling the problem overseas, at the border and within the UK. This includes continual monitoring of intelligence to assess and respond to changes in criminal behaviours, partnership working with other enforcement agencies, such as Trading Standards, and use of a wide range of interventions and sanctions.

The strategy can be accessed on the HMRC website: http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD1_031246&propertyType=document


Answered by:
Priti Patel (Conservative)
2 December 2014

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