Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the annual tax revenue loss from illicit and non-duty paid tobacco.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) publish official statistics relating to measuring tax gaps, which include the estimated annual tax revenue loss from Illicit and non-duty paid tobacco.

The statistics are published annually and the latest figures are set out in Measuring tax gaps 2024 edition: tax gap estimates for 2022 to 2023.

The duty gap for tobacco is estimated at 14.5% of the theoretical tobacco duty liability, or £2.2 billion (£1.7 billion in Excise Duty and £0.5 billion in VAT), in tax year 2022 to 2023.