With more than 27 million illicit cigarettes and 7.5 tonnes of hand-rolling tobacco seized under Operation CeCe in its first two years, new powers have been introduced for anyone selling such products.
From now on penalties of up to £10,000 for any business or individual who sells illicit tobacco products. The sanctions will bolster the government’s efforts to tackle the illicit tobacco market and reduce tobacco duty fraud.
The new powers will also see Local Authority Trading Standards given the ability to refer cases to HMRC for further investigation. HMRC will administer the penalties and ensure the appropriate sanction is applied and enforced.
Operation CeCe is a joint HMRC-National Trading Standards operation which has been working to seize illicit tobacco since January 2021.
Nis Bandara, HMRC’s Deputy Director for Excise and Environmental Taxes, said “Trade in illicit tobacco costs the Exchequer more than £2 billion in lost tax revenue each year. It also damages legitimate businesses, undermines public health and facilitates the supply of tobacco to young people.
“These sanctions build on HMRC’s enforcement of illicit tobacco controls, will strengthen our response against those involved in street level distribution, and act as a deterrent to anyone thinking that they can make a quick and easy sale and undercut their competition.”
