The government’s new tobacco tax will hurt the most vulnerable and encourage smuggling.
Rishi Sunak’s plan to hike prices by 88p to around £13.60 per pack will blow holes in the wallets of those worst hit by the pandemic, they said.
Forest, a smokers’ group, blasted the move and claimed that it could lead to a surge of ‘unregulated’ and counterfeit products being trafficked into the UK.
The Chancellor’s Budget on Wednesday unveiled the latest tax hike for tobacco, which will see the cheapest cigarette packets rise by 63p to £9.73.
He stated that all tobacco products will see their duty rates rise by the Retail Price Index inflation measure plus 2 percent.
Rishi Sunak’s plan to hike prices by 88p to around £13.60 per pack will blow holes in the wallets of those worst hit by the pandemic, smoking bodies have warned (file photo)
The Chancellor’s Budget on Wednesday (pictured) unveiled the latest tax hike for tobacco, which will see the cheapest cigarette packets rise by 63p to £9.73
Simon Clark, Forest’s director, stated to MailOnline: “Smokers are sick of being targeted every single year with above inflation increases of tobacco duty.
‘The majority are from lower income families. Many have suffered financially from the pandemic. They should not have to deal with yet another increase in tobacco prices at a time when it is most difficult for them to afford.
He stated that increasing tobacco tax rates will encourage illicit trade, which will harm legitimate retailers and increase the risk for counterfeit tobacco.
Hand-rolling tobacco will rise by RPI plus 6 percentage meaning a 30g bag will now cost over £9.02.
The minimum excise tax will be increased by RPI plus 3 percent. These changes took effect last night at 6pm.
Ministers hope that this move will reduce the number who smoke.
Hand-rolling tobacco will increase by RPI plus 6 per cent meaning a 30g bag will now cost over £9.02
They were quickly criticized on social media, with one calling the cost ‘ridiculous’.
Others pointed out that the price for cigarettes was rising while taxes on some alcoholic beverages like prosecco, cider, and others were lower.
Another wrote: “So, the cost of cigarettes has risen again. Let’s not pretend it’s about health.
“Fact is, even after considering how much the NHS spends smoking related illness or disease, the UK government still makes almost 15 Billion pounds each year,” said the spokesperson.
Amanda Wardlaw added online: “I have no idea what the price of my fags is and am not looking forward finding out.”
TOM UTLEY: I know few will pity me, but the tax hike on cigarettes has left me fuming (at a cost of £12k a year)
Did you notice a truly extraordinary omission from most of the coverage of Wednesday’s Budget? It was remarkable to me anyway.
In all the thousands of words that I’ve read about Rishi Sunak’s measures, and the hours of broadcast commentary I’ve listened to and watched, I’ve seen and heard barely a mention of a blistering tax increase that will affect some 7 million Britons — most of them from poorer backgrounds.
I am thinking about the dramatic rise in tobacco duty that came into effect at 6pm on Wednesday, hours after the Chancellor sat down.
This added no less than 88p to the price of 20 cigarettes — by far the biggest single-day’s rise in my lifetime — pushing the average cost of a legally acquired packet to an almost unbelievable £13.60 (yes, you read that correctly).
The staggering rise in tobacco duty, which came into force at 6pm on Wednesday, just hours after the Chancellor (Pictured) sat down, added no less than 88p to the price of 20 cigarettes
Before I go any further, let me declare an interest. Throughout my adult life, i have been a very heavy smoker. I am apathetically addicted to tobacco. I can’t think straight without a cigarette in me, let alone write a letter or answer a column.
So weak is my willpower — and here is a shameful confession — that for many years now, I’ve been puffing my way through no fewer than 50 Marlboro Reds every day.
Habit
I hadn’t calculated how much my disgusting behavior was costing me each year until this week. Although I knew it would be a huge sum, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could do it. I was so shocked by the 88p-per-packet rise that I decided to finally get the courage to calculate the numbers and face the facts. I was shocked at the numbers I came up with.
I’ve worked out that unless I manage to kick the habit, or cut down radically, Mr Sunak’s tax increase will cost me an extra £803 a year.
This will take my annual expenditure on cigarettes to — wait for it — £12,410. To put that into perspective, it is almost £2,000 more than my entire state pension for 12 months.
So much for the finding by Deloitte, the accountancy firm, that the Budget will leave married pensioners like me a grand total of £11 per year better off! It won’t if we smoke.
Now, I know very few smokers these day get through as many cigarettes as me (though in my youth, when you could smoke anywhere you wanted, there were colleagues who claimed they got through 100 cigarettes a day; don’t ask me how they did it).
I should also make clear that I’m not claiming for one moment to be poor — unlike the majority of smokers, who tend to have low incomes, as studies have consistently shown.
I have been a heavy smoker all my adult life. I’m apathetically addicted and can’t think straight if I don’t have a cigarette in front of me.
At the moment, my weekly column is still being written, but I don’t need to rely on my pension for my health. However, if I lost my job, I would have to stop smoking (though I shouldn’t start putting ideas in my employers’ heads).
Indeed, the price of a packet is so high that it has made me wonder how pensioners and those in much worse financial situations can afford to smoke. Do they all buy their cigarettes from smugglers — as I’m told that many do?
All I can tell you is that this Budget will make black marketeers very happy. I won’t be surprised if there is a spike in break-ins at tobacconists. If I was in their shoes, I would increase security.
Of course, smoking was cripplingly expensive even before Dishi Rishi dropped his 88p bombshell — which, incidentally, he didn’t even think worth mentioning in his statement to the House, choosing to bury it instead in the small print on page 135 of the Treasury’s Red Book, which is always published on Budget day.
Addicts
The difference is that the Chancellors of the past have always made sure to increase duty slowly, year after year, so as not too shock too many addicts.
True, they did claim with great pride that they cared only about the health of smokers. I felt that their primary concern was to keep the wonderful revenues coming in.
Indeed, I remember swearing to myself, back in the 1980s, that I’d give up smoking if the price of a packet ever topped £1. But when it rose by only a little above £1, I thought: ‘Oh well, just a few extra pence won’t make much difference.’ Four decades on, with 20 cigarettes now costing more than £13, I’m still at it.
Contrary to his predecessors at No 11 Mr Sunak doesn’t seem to care that by hitting us all with that 88p rise, all in one, he risks putting the geese out of business. It seems that he is really on a mission to stop people smoking.
It is even more remarkable than the additional burden it places on smokers, how little attention it receives in the media.
I can recall a time when a tax hike of, say, 5p per packet would have been prominently featured in all the bulletins on Budget Day. It would also have appeared on the tabloids’ front pages in large capital letters the following morning: ‘CIGS UPS 5p!
Sunak doesn’t seem to care that by hitting us all with the 88p increase in one go, he risked killing the geese who lay those golden eggs. It seems that he is really on a mission (Stock photo)
I didn’t hear anything about the 88p this week in any of the BBC’s main reports, even though I was able to tune in to many of them. As for the papers, all those I’ve seen — including this one — tucked the news away on inside pages, as if it was of no special interest.
Obnoxious
This is a sign of a sea change in society’s attitudes towards smokers such as me. We are so depised that very few people care about our woes.
I am already bracing my self for the torrents on the internet of abuse after admitting to being a 50-aday man.
Some will argue that people like me are costing the NHS a small fortune. I’ve contributed more and so far used it less than those who attack me.
They can take comfort in the fact that I am likely to save the Department for Work and Pensions by dying ten-years earlier than a nonsmoker.
Others will simply observe that smoking is a disgusting, smelly habit, which is offensive to everyone around it.
To them, I can only answer that I know, and I know. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to try it. In retrospect, I wish that I never had, back in those epoch-making days of my youth, when I thought it was fun and cool. But, reader! I’m weak.
As for Mr Sunak’s political courage in imposing such a large tax on 7,000,000 men and women, who account for 14% of the electorate, I must admit that I am humbled by his efforts.
I can only say that this Budget will be able to make me stop my revolting habits, if anything.