Find out if you need to pay Tobacco Products Duty if you make or import tobacco, how much it is and when you can suspend or defer payment.
Payable duty
Tobacco Products Duty is payable if you make or import:
- cigarettes
- cigars
- hand-rolling tobacco
- other smoking tobacco, for example pipe tobacco
- chewing tobacco
- cigarette rag and expanded tobacco if you can smoke it without further processing
- herbal smoking products that do not contain tobacco or tobacco substitute
- tobacco for heating
Products duty is not payable on
You do not have to pay Tobacco Products Duty on nasal snuff.
If you meet specific conditions you do not need to pay Tobacco Products Duty on:
- samples drawn for test by official bodies
- samples drawn for production or quality control
- tobacco refuse, products that are not fit for sale or returned products if they’re destroyed or judged unsmokeable in an approved manner
- products used for scientific research
Register for Tobacco Products Duty
If you make tobacco products you’ll need to register as a tobacco manufacturer.
As a manufacturer of tobacco products in the UK, you need to follow the legal requirements for fiscal markings on cigarette and hand-rolling tobacco.
You do not need to register if you’re manufacturing tobacco products purely for research or experiment. In this situation you need to write to HMRC to tell them what you’re doing and give a detailed overview of your business premises.
Pay Tobacco Products Duty
Usually, you need to pay HMRC as soon as the products become liable to the duty.
Products become liable to the duty when they either:
- enter the UK from overseas
- reach a smokeable condition during manufacture
These events are known as duty points.
You can find further information at Rates and allowances: Excise Duty – Tobacco Duty.
To make the payment, you should complete form TP7 and send it to:
HM Revenue and Customs
Tobacco Products Duty
St Mungo’s Road
Cumbernauld
Glasgow
G70 5WY
Duty suspension
Duty suspension allows you to pay your Tobacco Products Duty at a later stage, which may help your cash flow. If you manufacture, distribute or import tobacco products in the UK, you may store them duty-suspended in:
- your registered factory premises if you’re a manufacturer
- your own store if it’s a registered store with HMRC
- an excise warehouse (for certain products) if they’re intended for the UK market
Read more about receiving, storing and moving excise goods.
Duty deferment accounts
With a duty deferment account with HMRC, you can put off payment of Tobacco Products Duty for one calendar month after they pass a duty point.
Read more about duty deferment arrangements.
Records you must keep
As an importer or manufacturer of tobacco products, you must keep certain financial, business and other records.
If you import tobacco products, read about record keeping for businesses liable for Tobacco Products Duty.
If you’re a manufacturer of tobacco products, read about records that manufacturers must keep.
Returns
You must submit a return using form TP7 to HMRC on any day when you release tobacco products onto the UK market. The only exception is if you have a duty deferment account and HMRC has agreed you can submit a monthly return.
Read more on making a Tobacco Products Duty Return.
Rates
| Product | Duty rate |
|---|---|
| Cigarettes | The higher of:
16.5% of retail price plus £294.72 per 1,000 cigarettes or £393.45 per 1,000 cigarettes |
| Cigars | £367.61 per kg |
| Hand-rolling tobacco | £351.03 per kg |
| Tobacco for heating | £302.93 per kg |
| Other smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco | £161.62 per kg |
Read more on how the duty on cigarettes is calculated.
