Skip to main content
wheredoesthemoneygo.to
All taxes

Tax 6 of 8

Alcohol & Tobacco Duties

Monthly

£1.4bn

Share of receipts

2.2%

Per household

£47

Per person

£21

Trend

£-0.3bn (-18%) since 2019

Data sourcesHMRC — Tax receipts and National Insurance contributionsHMRC APIs (api.gov.uk)ONS — Public sector finances, UKONS Statistics API (api.gov.uk)
exact ONS/HMRC/MHCLG/PSS fields

What it targets

  • Health harm

  • Smoking decline

  • Illicit trade

Consumers of alcohol and tobacco, via producers and importers who pay the duty.

Inside the £1.4bn

Data sourcesHMRC — Tax receipts and National Insurance contributionsHMRC APIs (api.gov.uk)ONS — Public sector finances, UKONS Statistics API (api.gov.uk)
exact ONS/HMRC/MHCLG/PSS fields

Tobacco duty

£0.7bn

50.0% · £23/household

  • Cigarettes
  • Hand rolling

Spirits and wine

£0.5bn

35.7% · £17/household

  • Spirits
  • Wine
  • Cider

Beer duty

£0.2bn

14.3% · £7/household

  • Draught relief
  • Packaged beer

Alcohol duty moved to a strength-based system in August 2023.

Tobacco receipts fall each year as fewer people smoke, despite rate rises.

Duty is charged before VAT, so shoppers pay tax on the tax.

Sources

Financial year 2024/25.