Smokers in Scotland are braced for a tax hike with Rachel Reeves confirming the price of cigarettes will rise in her Budget today.
The Chancellor announced the increase in Tobacco Duty to MPs as she set out the UK Government’s tax and spending plans. The move, hitting an estimated 680,000 Scots smokers in the pocket, comes amid Labour and SNP plans to create a “smoke-free” generation.
Tobacco Duty, a tax charged to companies making or importing cigarettes in the UK, filters down to consumers to reflect prices in the shops. Reeves said the government will increase the tax on cigarettes by 2 per cent plus inflation for the remainder of parliament.
And she confirmed the dut y will increase by 10 per cent on hand-rolled tobacco as of 6pm today. As of September 2024, the average packet of 20 king-size cigarettes in the UK cost £15.85.
The Chancellor also targeted vapers with a “flat rate duty” on vaping liquid from October 2026 which will add £2.20 per 10ml of e-liquid. And there will be an additional one-off increase in tobacco duty at the same time in a bid to wean smokers off cigarettes.
Duty paid on cigarettes usually increases at least with inflation each year. It’s hoped further price rises will lead to less than 5 per cent of the population being smokers by 2030, which will then class the UK as being “smoke free”.
The Scottish Government also has the same aim to create a “tobacco-free generation” – with plans to eventually ban anyone born after 2009 from ever buying tobacco or cigarettes. UK-wide, smokers were hit with two tax hikes in 2023, taking the average price of a packet of 20 cigarettes up to £15.67.
The price of cigarettes has rocketed in the last decade thanks to duty hikes, up from £8.06 for a packet of 20 back in 2014. It means cigarette costs have surged by 86 per cent since then, costing the average smoker an extra £1310 a year.
The policy is aimed at reducing the numbers of smokers. In Scotland, where smoking rates have fallen to 15 per cent of adults, smoking still accounts for nearly 9000 deaths and 90,000 hospital admissions per year, piling pressure on the NHS.
Simon Clark, of the smokers’ lobby group Forest, said increasing tax on tobacco above inflation would “drive even more smokers to the black market” and hurt legitimate retailers. He also claimed the move discriminates against people from poorer backgrounds, adding: “Instead of punishing the low paid, the government should focus on improving the environmental conditions that drive many people to smoke in the first place.”
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