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  • Stronger powers to combat illicit tobacco come into force

    More than 27 million illicit cigarettes and 7,500kg of hand-rolling tobacco were seized under Operation CeCe in its first two years, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and National Trading Standards have revealed.

  • One month to go until Alcohol Duty system changes

    Today marks one month until the biggest Alcohol Duty reforms in 140 years come into effect.
    On 1 August 2023, the Alcohol Duty system will become much simpler, taxing all alcoholic drinks based on their alcohol by volume (ABV).
    This replaces the current Alcohol Duty system, which consists of four separate taxes covering beer, cider, spirits, wine and made-wine.
    It will make the system

  • 10.8 million cigarettes seized at Belfast port

    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is investigating after 10.8 million illegal cigarettes were seized at Belfast Port. The cigarettes, worth around £5.3million in unpaid taxes, were seized by HMRC working alongside Border Force, on 20 June, 2023. The cigarettes were found packed in cardboard boxes inside a container that had been scanned by Border Force. No arrests have been made.

  • Tax gap holds steady at 4.8%

    The amount of unpaid UK tax has remained at an all-time low of 4.8%, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) revealed today (22 June).

  • Cigarette smuggling gang jailed for 26 years

    A gang caught red-handed with millions of counterfeit cigarettes at a Lincolnshire farm has been handed prison sentences totalling 26 years.
    The small village of Midville, in East Lindsey, was the unlikely base for the gang who were caught with more than 6.5millon cigarettes, worth more than £1.8m in evaded duty.
    Officers from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) arrested Marcin Kopec, 44, and Woj

  • HMRC gives offshore customers chance to come clean

    UK residents who were named in the leaked Pandora Papers are being given the chance to correct their tax affairs.
    HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is writing to UK residents named in the files of 14 offshore financial service providers. These providers specialise in companies, trusts, and foundations in low, or no tax, jurisdictions.
    The letters, which started going out this month, warn recip

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