Britain’s second biggest cigarette manufacturer has called for a freeze in duty tax when the 2010 Budget is revealed this year.
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) has urged the chancellor Alistair Darling to consider a halt in hiking the tax rate in a bid to deter the impact of counterfeit tobacco goods, according to the Times.
JTI say that freezing the duty on both cigarettes and hand rolling products would cut the amount of criminals being able to profit from the sale of fake goods and would provide a boost to the sector.
The news provider reports that up to £3 billion is denied from the Treasury each year through lost tax revenue from illegal tobacco sales, according to estimates by HM Revenue & Customs.
Daniel Torras, managing director of JTI UK, told the Times that the restoring of VAT to 17.5 per cent this year combined with an expected 12p rise in tobacco duty, as indicated in the Pre-Budget Report in November, would create an increase more than that imposed in the last three Budgets.
He argues that such tax hikes will hinder the firm’s brands, including Benson & Hedges, Silk Cut, Mayfair, Hamlet and Camel.
The firm is the international division of Japan Tobacco, the world’s third largest manufacturer, with a global market share of 11 per cent.
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