National statistics

Tobacco statistics background and references

Updated 29 February 2024

1. Overview

The following goods are all liable to Tobacco Products Duty if they are made wholly or partly from tobacco or from any substance used as a substitute for tobacco (including tobacco grown for personal use). Tobacco Products Duty is charged on the following products manufactured or bought into the UK:

• cigarettes

• cigars

• hand-rolling tobacco (HRT)

• other smoking tobacco (also known as pipe tobacco)

• chewing tobacco

• herbal smoking products

• tobacco for heating (TfH)

There is no duty on snuff or e-cigarettes, so these are not included in our statistics. From 1 January 2014, herbal smoking products are treated as if they contain tobacco and therefore subject to Tobacco Products Duty. From 29 October 2018 a new separate rate for TfH was introduced.

2. When duty is charged on tobacco

Payments become due to HMRC when the products become liable to the duty. They become liable for duty when they pass the duty point, which is when one of the following happens:

• they enter the UK

• they reach a smokable condition in the course of manufacture

If the tobacco products are kept in a registered warehouse, store or factory, the manufacturer can use ‘duty suspension’ arrangements, where duty is paid at a later stage than described above.

In this case duty is paid when those goods leave duty suspension for consumption within the UK. In practice, manufacturers hold a duty deferment account with HMRC, whereby payment is delayed for one calendar month after they pass a duty point.

An index and basic guide to Tobacco Products Duty is available at Tobacco Products Duty: detailed information and more detailed information is available in Excise Notice 476.

Returns on tobacco products for home use (TP7) can be filed at Tobacco Products Duty: home use (TP7) and more information on anti-forestalling restrictions on tobacco products can be accessed in Excise Notice 85c.

3. Statistical background

Coverage

These statistics cover the United Kingdom. It is not possible to provide any geographical breakdown on where tax liability arose for Tobacco Products Duty as HMRC does not collect this data on the Tobacco return. HMRC does not publish any geographic breakdown on Tobacco by taxpayer registered address as this is not related to where the tax liability arose.

Data sources

The data sources used to compile this bulletin are:

• data contained on TP7 return forms, which are sent from the manufacturer to HMRC giving details of duty due and clearances

• the Customs & Excise Core Accounting System (CECAS)

• reports from UK Warehouses (W502 reports)

• reports from Registered Excise Dealers and Shippers

• the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), via the Enterprise Tax Management Platform (ETMP)

Measures of tax revenue

There are 3 main measures of tax revenue:

• on an accruals basis (when the tax liability arose)

• on a declared liability basis (when HMRC is notified of the liability)

• on a cash receipts basis (when the tax was paid to HMRC)

All of the revenue figures published in the Tobacco Bulletin are on a cash receipts basis (for example, April’s figure refers to cash received in April). As these statistics are based on cash received during the month they are generally known for certain by the end of the month and not usually revised.

The bulletin revenue figures differ from those in the audited accounts as published in the HMRC annual report and resource accounts. The annual report figures relate to accrued revenue during the financial year whereas the bulletin figures are for cash received during the financial year.

The accrued revenue figure includes adjustments made to reflect all liabilities due and incurred up to the end of the financial year (and therefore do not only reflect movement of actual cash).

Tobacco receipts

All receipts are for Tobacco Products Duties (ad valorem and specific) only and do not include VAT. Figures are derived from returns made by manufacturers.

Figures were derived from the manufacturers’ returns (the return is known as the TP7 form and were calculated using the levels of clearances, along with the current rates of duty to estimate the receipts from cigarettes.

These estimates were adjusted to ensure that the implied total receipts matched the total cash receipts derived from the Customs & Excise Core Accounting System (CECAS) and Customs Declaration Service (CDS). Home produced cigarette receipts have not been published from November 2015 to preserve commercial confidentiality.

Cigarette is any product that comprises:

• a roll of tobacco which can be smoked as it is and is not a cigar, or rolls of tobacco which, by simple non-industrial handling, are inserted into cigarette paper tubes

• rolls of tobacco which, by simple non-industrial handling, are inserted into cigarette-paper tubes, or wrapped in cigarette paper

Cigarettes, as defined, include products consisting in whole or in part of substances other than tobacco but do not include herbal smoking products.

Rounding policy

Financial figures such as total receipts are rounded to the nearest million pounds. Cigarette clearances are rounded to the nearest million sticks. Other tobacco products are rounded to the nearest thousand kilograms.

Any apparent discrepancy between totals and the sum of the constituents in the bulletin is due to rounding. Percentage changes are based on unrounded figures so will differ from percentages calculated using figures published in this bulletin.

Revisions policy

Amendments and late returns can influence the data used for the publications. For that reason, all data added to the publication since the previous release is labelled as provisional, although revisions tend to be minor. Revisions are only marked when non-provisional figures are changed.

Total cash receipts are aligned with the National Audit Office (NAO) audited HMRC annual report and accounts. This can result in adjustments to March statistics to ensure consistency between reported financial year totals. As such, March figures are treated as provisional until aligned with the annual report and accounts.

4. Statistical quality

HMRC’s statement on statistical quality is published at Statistics at HMRC. These statistics are based on administrative data sources, and figures for receipts are adjusted to match known totals of cash received by HMRC in each month.

These statistics undergo a thorough internal quality-assurance procedure before publication. The Total Tax Received statistics are aligned with HMRC’s Trust Statement, which is audited by the National Audit Office.

The quality of these statistics depends on the purpose that they are intended to be used for. For understanding clearances of tobacco through duty points and the duty paid on these clearances, these statistics are of high-quality as they are based on the returns and payments of all registered manufacturers. However for other purposes (for example the prevalence of smoking) the statistics may not be the most appropriate as the scope of the statistics is defined by tax laws.

The figures here won’t necessarily relate to the smoking of tobacco since products may be smoked some time after duty has been paid on them, and also the figures here won’t cover duty-free tobacco and other tobacco where duty has not been declared to HMRC. Further information on statistics on tax gaps (the difference between tax collected and that, which in HMRC’s view, should be collected) can be found at Measuring tax gaps tables.

5. Contacts

The Tobacco Bulletin is produced by the Indirect Tax Receipts Monitoring team as part of the Excise duties, VAT and other tax statistics collection.

For statistical enquiries, contact:

revenuemonitoring@hmrc.gov.uk

HMRC 

Knowledge, Analysis and Intelligence (KAI) 

Floor 2 

Three New Bailey 

Salford 

M3 5FS

For media enquiries see HMRC press office.

For more general enquiries, visit Contact HM Revenue & Customs or contact the Excise and Customs Helpline on 0300 200 3700.

6. Publication calendar

The Tobacco bulletin is released quarterly on the last working day of the month, but is delayed by a day whenever the day preceding the last working day is a non-working day. The publication is never released on a Monday.

Archive versions of the Tobacco Bulletin published on GOV.UK after October 2019 are no longer hosted on this page and are instead available via the UK Government Web Archive, from the National Archives. Archive versions of the Tobacco Bulletin published between March 2008 and August 2019 are found on the archived UK Trade Info website, accessed via the National Archives.

The full publication calendar can be found on the GOV.UK website.

7. User engagement

HMRC welcomes user engagement to improve the departments National and Official Statistics. National Statistics are accredited official statistics. You can contact statistics producers via our feedback avenues.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR).

OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.

You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing revenuemonitoring@hmrc.gov.uk.

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.

A consultation on the reduction and consolidation of HMRC statistics publications was held between 8 February 2021 and 12 March 2021 and the results have been published. No changes to the Tobacco Bulletin were announced.

A consultation on changes to HMRC statistics publications was held from 24 October 2022 to 16 January 2023. The feedback from this consultation is being analysed and the consultation response will be published in Spring 2023. No proposed changes to the Tobacco Bulletin have been announced.

8. National Statistics

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the code of practice for Official Statistics.

The Tobacco Bulletin statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February/2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007.

Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

• meet identified user needs

• are well explained and readily accessible

• are produced according to sound methods

• and are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the code of practice shall continue to be observed.

For general enquiries about National Statistics, contact the National Statistics Public Enquiry Service at:

Telephone: 0845 601 3034 

Overseas: +44 (1633) 653 599 

Minicom: 01633 812399 

Fax: 01633 652747 

Email: info@statistics.gov.uk

Letters:

Customer Contact Centre 

Room 1.101 

Cardiff Road 

Newport 

NP10 8XG 

9. Related statistics

The latest receipts figures are published by HMRC at HM Revenue and Customs receipts. Archived receipts are published by HMRC on the National Archives website.

Archive versions of statistical publications on excise, VAT, and other direct tax statistics are available via The National Archives.

HMRC publish the Tax ready reckoner Official Statistics which show the estimated direct effect on HMRC tax revenues if simple changes were made to various taxes. They are intended to assist researchers and policymakers.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HM Treasury publish Public sector finances, which covers tax receipts from all taxes on the ONS website.

Public Health England have published statistics on smoking.

Tobacco Products Duty receipts are forecast by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and are published on the OBR website.