To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his most recent estimate is of (a) the proportion of tobacco products consumed in the UK on which duty was not paid due to smuggling and fraud in each year since 1997 and (b) the resultant loss of income to the Exchequer. (174768)

Estimates for the market share of tobacco products that are supplied to the UK through smuggling and fraud, and the associated revenue loss to the Exchequer, are available from 2000 to 2001.

The latest estimates for the market share of illicitly supplied cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco and the associated revenue loss to the Exchequer (duty plus VAT) are estimated separately for 2001-02 to 2005-06 and are given in “Measuring Indirect Tax Losses—2007” published by HMRC in October 2007, which is available in the House of Commons Library. Estimates for 2000-01 are given in “Measuring Indirect Tax Losses—2006” which was published by HMRC in December 2006 and is also available in the House of Commons Library.