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  • Government loses almost a billion euros in taxes ‘as black market tobacco sales explode’ – Shelflife

    Less than one-in-five illegal cigarettes were seized during 2024: RAS

    30 April 2025

    Government loses almost a billion euros in taxes as black market tobacco sales explode, noted Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS).

    RAS has said the publication today (30 April) of the Revenue Commissioner’s Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey 2024 proves that Government is losing the battle against Ireland’s booming market in illicit tobacco.

    Cigarettes

    Less than one-in-five illegal cigarettes were seized during 2024, research shows.

    Today’s Revenue Commissioner survey finds that 37% of cigarette packs in circulation had no Irish excise duty paid as they were either illegal or purchased outside Ireland.

    This marks an increase from 34% in 2023. In the case of the Roll-Your-Own tobacco market, the proportion of products in circulation with no Irish duty paid was a staggering 49%. The numbers indicate that the illicit trade in RYO tobacco has increased by 53% when compared to last year’s findings.

    The Revenue Commissioner survey reveals that illicit market cigarettes accounted for 26% of cigarettes in circulation in 2024 and was worth over €590 million in lost taxes.

    RAS estimates that a further €249 million was lost on the 11% travel purchases of cigarettes in 2024.

    No Irish excise or VAT has been paid on any of these cigarettes and Retailers Against Smuggling is concerned that many of these ‘legal’ cigarettes are being brought in breach of duty free and travel allowances.

    RYO

    Half of all Roll-Your-Own (RYO) tobacco in circulation had no Irish duty paid, RAS highlighted.

    RAS estimates that a further €95 million was lost in taxes on RYO Tobacco in 2024.

    Commenting on the findings, Benny Gilsenan, Spokesperson, RAS National, stated: “With €934 million in lost taxes on tobacco products, the scale of Ireland’s untaxed tobacco market is staggering – and it’s taking business away from legitimate Irish retailers.

    “One of the main reasons Ireland’s untaxed cigarette market has grown so large is because continuous increases in excise are driving people to purchase the cigarettes from the black market or abroad, a trend being allowed by a serious lack of enforcement of duty free and travel allowances.”

    Further findings

    Polling conducted by Ireland Thinks on behalf of RAS in November 2024 showed that a sizeable majority (58%) of those who bought cigarettes bought some or all of them from abroad, up from 45% in March 2024.

    RAS’s concerns have been confirmed by the Revenue Commissioner’s survey which recognises “a notable increase in illicit trade attributed to informal imports sourced through friends.”

    The survey found that the percentage who sourced cigarettes from “Friend brought them home from a trip abroad” nearly doubled from 15% in 2023 to 27% in 2024.

    The regulated cigarette market in Ireland – for which excise duty was paid – had a total retail value €1.34 billion in 2024, meaning that black market cigarettes (making up the 26% of the cigarettes in circulation according to today’s survey) were worth over €550 million in 2024.

    The Revenue Commissioners successfully seized €96 million in illegal cigarettes in 2024, meaning they seized less than one in five of all illegal cigarettes in circulation in Ireland last year.

    ‘Exorbitant excise rate’

    RAS claim that Ireland’s exorbitant excise rate on tobacco, which is the highest in Europe, is fuelling the increase in black market activity.

    “The Government has its head in the sand on the impact that the huge excise burden on tobacco is having on the legitimate market,” Gilsenan added.

    “What’s worse, these 2024 Revenue figures only reflect the 2023 excise increase of 75 cents on cigarettes. In late 2024, Government lumped a whopping €1 excise on cigarettes.

    “This means that the current levels are most likely much higher than the 2024 figures.

    “The last three Revenue Commissioner illegal tobacco surveys have found the highest ever illicit figures recorded for tobacco in Ireland; year on year the problem is just growing, and legitimate retailers are losing out. In spite of this, Government lumped on the highest ever excise increase last year, it’s just a baffling response to this clear loss of control of the black market.”

    RAS are calling on the Government to:

    Freeze excise on cigarettes, which is already the highest in Europe, and is clearly fuelling tobacco smuggling;

    Increase staffing and scanner resources to detect illegal tobacco being smuggled into Ireland, including through our airports through breaches of duty-free allowances;

    Increase the fines and prison sentences for court convictions for illegal smuggling.

    Read more: Retailers Against Smuggling welcome budget 2025 tax strategy paper

  • RAS Notes That 60% Of Tobacco-Related Convictions Are Untracked – Checkout.ie

    April 22 2025

    Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has called attention to the fact that less than half (40%) of fines issued for summary prosecutions for tobacco smuggling are being tracked for payment or non-payment.

    The organisation blamed the gulf on an ad-hoc system of coding of prosecutions.

    It has now called on the Revenue Commissioner and Courts Service to urgently address serious gaps in the data relating to the payment of fines for tobacco-related convictions.

    An analysis by RAS shows that over the five years from 2020 to 2024, there were a total of 316 summary convictions at District Court Level for tobacco offences, on charges such as smuggling or evasion of excise duty and illegal selling.

    This resulted in 285 fines being issued.

    However, the Courts Service can only provide data on whether fines were paid in relation to 114 of these convictions, amounting to only 40%.

    This analysis is based on data sourced from a Freedom of Information request and answers to parliamentary questions.

    Prosecution Codes

    In response to RAS’s Freedom of Information request, the Courts Service advised that it can only provide data in relation to fines for which offence codes were used on the system by prosecutors.

    Prosecutors may have used uncoded free text for some offences and thus, data is unavailable in these instances.

    RAS has stated that it believes the ad-hoc system of prosecutors being able to enter any code they wish is inadequate and, given the importance of the quality of data to policy making and public service management, this practice must be addressed to ensure prosecutions are accurately coded.

    The organisation has reached out to the government asking that they urgently address the ad-hoc system of coding to plug serious data gaps relating to the payment of fines for tobacco and related offences.

    ‘Adequate Enforcement’

    Speaking about this call to action, RAS national spokesperson Barry Gilsenan said, “Fines for tobacco smuggling in Ireland are pathetically low, and we don’t know if they’re all being paid.

    “Smuggling and illicit trade are increasingly prevalent and those caught engaging in these illegal acts must be properly held to account.

    “Accurate data will allow policymakers to understand the state of the black market.

    “RAS are calling for increased penalties levied on offenders and adequate enforcement of those penalties.

    “As it stands, a majority of offenders are off the hook for their crimes, as they face no repercussions for their crimes.

    “We must deter black market tobacco trade and protect legitimate retailers in the process.”

  • RAS: Factory Discovery Highlights ‘Out Of Control’ Illegal Tobacco Trade – Checkout.ie

    RAS: Factory Discovery Highlights ‘Out Of Control’ Illegal Tobacco Trade – Checkout.ie

    06 March 2025

    A spokesman for Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has highlighted the “out of control” illicit tobacco trade in Ireland, following the discovery of an illegal cigarette factory in Co. Louth.

    RAS congratulated the Revenue Commissioners and An Garda Síochána for their success in discovering and shutting down the highly sophisticated factory, where almost €600,000 worth of cigarettes were seized.

    The spokesman for the retail group has warned that this seizure is the “tip of the iceberg”, and that tobacco smuggling is “out of control”.

    Headline figures recently released by the Revenue Commissioners show that Irish authorities seized €128 million worth of illegal tobacco in 2024, compared to €63 million in 2023.

    In total, 112 million cigarettes were seized by Irish authorities in 2024, with the amount nearly doubling in one year.

    In 2024, the Revenue Commissioners published a survey that showed that 34% of cigarettes in circulation in Ireland were non-duty paid.

    RAS national spokesman Benny Gilsenan – who is also a retailer in North Dublin – said, “This factory closure and the massive scale of seizures last year represent only the tip of the iceberg.

    “Tobacco-smuggling is out of control in Ireland.

    “The new government must massively increase their efforts to tackle tobacco-smuggling, starting with increased scanning and detection at our ports, and adopting a zero-tolerance approach to illegal cigarettes being sold in our communities.

    “Tobacco-smuggling is costing millions in lost revenue to both legitimate retailers and the Irish Exchequer.

    This factory closure is welcome, but more is needed to get on top of the problem.”

  • Louth cigarette factory bust is “tip of the iceberg”|Louth Live

    05 March 2025

    Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) were commenting on a cigarette factory bust in Louth

    Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) have congratulated the Revenue Commission and Gardaí for their successes in discovering and shutting down a highly-sophisticated illegal cigarette factory in Co Louth, where cigarettes worth almost €600,000 were seized. 

    The retail group has warned that this seizure is the “tip of the iceberg” and has claimed that tobacco smuggling in Ireland is “out of control.”

    Headline figures recently released by the Revenue Commissioners show that Irish authorities seized €128 million worth of illegal tobacco in 2024, compared to €63 million in 2023. In total, 112 million cigarettes were seized by Irish authorities in 2024, with the amount nearly doubling in one year.

    The Revenue Commissioners published a survey in 2024 which found that some 34% of cigarettes in circulation in Ireland were non-duty paid. 

    RAS national spokesman Benny Gilsenan, who is also a retailer on Dublin’s northside, said: “Today’s factory closure and the massive scale of seizures last year represent only the tip of the iceberg. Tobacco smuggling is out of control in Ireland.”

    He continued: “The new Government must massively increase their efforts to tackle tobacco smuggling, starting with increased scanning and detection at our ports; and adopting a zero-tolerance approach to illegal cigarettes being sold in our communities. 

    “Tobacco smuggling is costing millions in lost revenue to both legitimate retailers and the Irish exchequers. Today’s factory closure is welcome, but more is needed to get on top of the problem.” 

  • Record €128m In Illegal Tobacco Seizures In 2024 “Tip Of The Iceberg” – RAS | Checkout.ie

    Record €128m In Illegal Tobacco Seizures In 2024 “Tip Of The Iceberg” – RAS | Checkout.ie

    Retailers Against Smuggling calls on incoming government to tackle rising illicit trade

    January 29, 2025 12:00 PM

    Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) have congratulated the Revenue Commission and Gardaí for their successes in seizing illegal tobacco, but warned that this is just the “tip of the iceberg.”

    The retail group has warned that the increase in seizures is simply a factor of the increase in illegal, non-duty paid tobacco in circulation in the state.

    RAS has now called on the new government to commit to tackling smuggling in Ireland.

    ‘Out Of Control’

    Headline figures released by the Revenue Commissioners show that Irish authorities seized €128 million worth of illegal tobacco in 2024, compared to €63 million in 2023.

    This means that the value of seizures doubled in just one year, based on figures from Revenue’s Headline Results Publications for 2023 and 2024.

    RAS national spokesman Benny Gilsenan, who is also a retailer on Dublin’s northside, said, “€128 million was only the tip of the iceberg.

    “Tobacco smuggling is out of control in Ireland. The country is being engulfed by a tsunami of smuggling.”

    The Revenue Commissioners published a survey in 2023 which found that some 34% of cigarettes in circulation in Ireland were non-duty paid.

    The 2024 seizures data suggests that illegal smuggling is particularly acute in the capital region, with 58% of all seizures in 2024 occurring in Dublin.

    ‘Posing Serious Risk’

    RAS has called for more resources to detect smuggling by organised criminal gangs, but it warned that the focus on large-scale seizures must also be matched by a new drive to tackle widespread non-compliance with duty-free travel allowance.

    A new survey from Ireland Thinks on behalf of RAS found that the proportion of all those purchasing cigarettes who bought them while abroad has increased from 45% to 58% between March and November 2024.

    This indicates a surging trend towards increased import of cigarettes in Ireland.

    Due to a lack of checks and enforcement at Irish ports and airports, passengers can walk through arrivals with thousands of non-paid cigarettes in their luggage.

    They can then illegally sell these smuggled cigarettes on the black market, taking business away from legitimate Irish retainers.

    The Irish exchequer, in turn, misses out on tax revenue.

    RAS have called on the new government to tackle the rising illicit trade in cigarettes, which it says is “posing serious business risks to small Irish retailers, from convenience stores and forecourts to local pharmacies.”

  • Retailer lobby group warns of surge in cigarette and medicine smuggling | The Irish Times

    Retailer lobby group warns of surge in cigarette and medicine smuggling | The Irish Times

    Retailers Against Smuggling calls on incoming government to tackle rising illicit trade

    27 December 2024

    A survey published earlier this year by the Revenue Commissioners found 34 per cent of cigarettes in circulation in Ireland were non-duty paid.


    The number of Irish smokers buying cigarettes from overseas and avoiding taxes as a result climbed significantly over the course of the year, according to a survey conducted by a retail lobby group.

    Some 58 per cent of Irish cigarette smokers bought from abroad in 2024 up 13 per cent since March, according to an Ireland Thinks poll conducted on behalf of Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS).

    The survey also found that 11 per cent of consumers bought medicines or supplements from unofficial or irregular sellers over the past 12 months, up from 7 per cent in March.

    The group called on the incoming government to tackle the rising illicit trade in medicines and cigarettes which it says is “posing serious business risks to small Irish retailers, from convenience stores and forecourts to local pharmacies”.

    It said the poll reinforced “anecdotal feedback from retailers around Ireland who have observed how the circulation of illegal tobacco has surged” this year.

    A separate survey published earlier this year by the Revenue Commissioners found 34 per cent of cigarettes in circulation in Ireland were non-duty paid.

    RAS spokesman Benny Gilsenan said Ireland’s street are “flooded” with tobacco products on which duty was not paid.

    He said the problem “shows no sign of abating” and the incoming government must “commit to taking action against smuggling and the illicit trade” of such products.

    Due to rising tobacco prices, Mr Gilsenan said “it’s no surprise that consumers are turning to the importation of cheaper products from abroad”.

    In addition to the loss to the exchequer, he said the trend of people buying cigarettes in breach of duty-free allowances or medicines from unlicensed sources “poses serious risks to legitimate Irish retailers as well as to consumers who are potentially putting their health at risk”.

  • Ireland’s Cigarette Smuggling 63 million euro loss to the Exchequer – Meath Live

    Ireland’s Cigarette Smuggling 63 million euro loss to the Exchequer – Meath Live

    October 17 2024

    Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) welcomes this week’s seizure by Revenue, of 8 million cigarettes in County Meath, as pictured above. This most recent seizure, with a retail value of almost 7.2 million, and a loss to the Exchequer of 5.7 million is the 33rd major illegal cigarette seizure of 2024. The total number of illegal cigarette seizures for last year was 31. RAS, an organisation which represents over 3,000 retailers across Ireland are urgently calling on the government to reduce or freeze taxes which impact the price of consumer goods, including a freeze on tobacco excise. Ireland has one of the highest rates of illegal tobacco trade in Europe. Illegal tobacco poses great risks to consumers and businesses, undermines anti-smoking and public health campaigns, is a significant source of organised crime and violates state rules on manufacturing, distribution and sale.

    So far this year, 85.4 million cigarettes have been seized by Revenue, with a total retail value of 81.7 million euros, a loss of 63 million euro to the Irish Exchequer. In terms of losses to the Irish Exchequer, August figures took this year’s figures past last year’s total. It is only October and with three remaining in the year, already the loss to the Exchequer is 18 million greater than last year. According to Tax Strategy Group papers 2 which were recently published ahead of the Budget 2025, an increase of 50 cents in excise on a pack of 20 cigarettes would theoretically bring in €40.6 million. However, the Tax Strategy Group papers also note the notional loss to the exchequer from non-Irish duty paid cigarettes and illicit cigarettes was approximately €422 million in 2023.

    Retailers Against Smuggling was extremely disappointed with the Government’s decision to increase excise on tobacco in Budget 2025, as RAS believes this excessive excise increase represents a big win
    for illegal tobacco sellers and represents a further blow to legitimate Irish retailers. Government is continuing to ignore the increasing levels of illicit tobacco products in Ireland, with Revenue finding that
    the last two consecutive years had the highest level of illicit cigarettes on record, which is clearly being fuelled by excessive excise hikes.

    Retailers across Ireland have for years, been cautioning government that the continual increasing of excise will only fuel illegal cigarettes sales resulting in increasing losses, not gains, to the Irish exchequer.
    This has been proven to the case over recent years. A review by RAS of the excise revenue received in the six years 2017-2022, shows that ahead of each budget, the Tax Strategy Group paper estimated over
    the six years that there would be cumulative additional receipts totaling €350 million. But, in reality, the actual revenue in that period fell from €1.397 million to €1.005 million, a €392 million decline.
    Given the tsunami of cigarette smuggling which has engulfed Ireland in 2024, further excise increase will only exacerbate the losses to the exchequer, while also causing significant loss in sales for legitimate
    retailers across Ireland, many of whom are small businesses already struggling.

    In terms of operational activities to tackle the illicit trade in tobacco products, robust enforcement plays a central role. This is primarily the task of Revenue. Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS), are also calling on
    a pressing need to increase funding in Budget 2025 for resources that will detect illicit market activity including x-ray scanners, airport inspections and sniffer dog units.

  • Ireland’s puritanical attack on smokers I The Spectator

    Ireland’s puritanical attack on smokers I The Spectator

    October 04 2024

    While the UK braces itself for a budget so tight we can already hear the pips squeaking from across the Irish sea, this week saw an Irish budget which was marked more by largesse than any attempt to balance the books.

    With an election due either in November or sometime early next year, and a cool, surprise £11 billion burning a hole in the government’s pocket, following the infamous EU judgment forcing Apple to pay more taxes, the government here has predictably decided to spend far and wide.

    As it stands, the government plans to spend a tasty £87 billion in 2025, a massive increase on 2024’s £80 billion. But where is all this lovely, lovely money coming from?

    Recouped mainly from the Big Tech companies which have made Ireland their European home, corporation tax has contributed almost £25 billion this year and that figure is expected to rise to £30 billion by 2030. That’s not even including the £11 billion from Apple, which was such a bone of contention between the Irish government and its European ‘partners’.

    In a legal row which has been waging since 2013, the European Commission accused the Irish of handing Apple ‘illegal state aid’. Since 2016, all the disputed tax revenue has been put in an escrow fund and now that the final, binding legal judgment has decreed that Ireland must accept the tax, there is an extra £11 billion for the government. This is undeniably a tidy sum, but it has made ministers and industry observers worry that Apple might be less inclined to base its affairs here.

    The European Commission knows that as well, which is why, under pressure from the Germans and the French who want their own slice of the Apple pie, they were so determined to scupper this long running sweetheart deal between Apple and the pesky Irish.

    Good news for them, potentially very bad news for the Irish. Without corporation tax, the economy would be running at a massive deficit. So this was a strange budget, which brought back uncomfortable echoes of the Celtic Tiger era, when the economy was artificially inflated by stamp duty from a property boom. When that market collapsed, it brought the country down with it and dragged us into a recession that lasted a decade but felt like a century.

    Now, with only ten companies providing more than 50 per cent of Ireland’s corporation tax, there is the very real fear that if any of them leaves Ireland, or simply collapses, it will create a cascade effect that would return us to the dark days of 2008.

    But in the face of such macro problems, it makes sense to focus on the micro and the things that impact us on a day-to-day basis. True to form for this government, they couldn’t resist having another go at smokers.

    While there had been talks of a hike in the price of booze, it appears the powerful vintners lobby bent the government’s ear and so a pint won’t go being up in price anytime soon.

    But that’s where the good news ends, because unlike the pub trade, the poor old smokers don’t have various Irish politicians and ministers on speed dial.

    Minister for finance, Jack Chambers, who like most of today’s blandly healthy politicians is a non-smoker, has blithely decided to increase the price of a packet of fags by a full Euro to €18. That’s the guts of 20 quid for 20 Carroll’s (the finest of all Irish cigarettes).

    In an increasingly puritanical Ireland, that massive price hike has attracted little attention. In fact, the only anger has been coming from smokers themselves and organisations such as Forest, who often appear like the last of the Mohicans when it comes to advocating for a smoker’s basic human right to enjoy a fag without being persecuted or penalised by the eternal-health fantasists of the government and their prohibitionist allies.

    According to Forest’s spokesman Simon Clark, the new prices are an act of ‘discrimination’ against smokers which will ‘force many deeper into poverty.’

    He also pointed out that, ‘smoking is a legitimate habit. This brutal hike in the cost of cigarettes will drive more smokers to the black market and fuel illicit trade… It’s hard to imagine a more punitive or counterproductive measure because the only people who will benefit are the criminal gangs and the illicit traders.’

    Even apart from the civil liberties issue, Clark is of course correct to raise the issue of illegality.

    The government boasts that revenue from tobacco was down by 17 per cent, or £129 million, from 2022 and they claim this is proof that their war on tobacco is being won, and fewer people are smoking.

    They are wrong. They fail to take account of the fact that an estimated 32.9 million packets of illegal cigarettes were sold last year (costing the Exchequer £350 million), so by that metric, their own figures immediately fall apart.

    Last year, Irish Retailers Against Smuggling claimed that 33 per cent of Irish smokers were prepared to buy black market cigarettes, with the figure rising to 50 per cent in the 18 to 34 bracket.

    In fact, it is virtually impossible to walk down working-class shopping thoroughfares such as Moore Street and Henry Street in Dublin without seeing black market traders hawk their wares. Similarly, if you want to buy a carton of cheap fags, there’s no shortage of pubs where they are readily available, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more.

    So why doesn’t this government crack down on this easily solvable issue? Well, there are two reasons. They are on an ideological mission to be seen to be tough on smoking and the easiest way to achieve that is to simply tax the bejesus out of smokers and pretend that will solve the problem, even though they must surely know this is just making things worse

    As for the other reason? Well, its a far more human one – they don’t understand the concept of a black market because they never encounter it.

    Our gilded politicians simply don’t shop in places like Moore Street or Henry Street, they prefer rather more salubrious locations, and would never darken the door of the type of establishment where a vaguely dodgy looking geezer might sell you a carton of fags from the bottom of his plastic shopping bag.

    Why on earth would they venture into such a den of iniquity when they can do their drinking in the heavily subsidised Dail bar, along with the rest of the right sort of people?

    Meanwhile, the ordinary Irish smoker continues to get hosed.  

  • Illegal cigarette sellers are big winners in Budget 2025

    October 01 2024

    Government has decided to reward criminal gangs at the expense of legitimate retailers

    Retailers Against Smuggling is extremely disappointed with the Government’s decision to increase excise on tobacco in Budget 2025. RAS believes this excessive excise increase represents a big win for illegal tobacco sellers and represents a further blow to legitimate Irish retailers. Government is continuing to ignore the increasing levels of illicit tobacco products in Ireland, with Revenue finding that the last two consecutive years had the highest level of illicit cigarettes on record, which is clearly being fuelled by excessive excise hikes. 

    In 2023, 19 per cent of cigarette packs held by smokers were illegal, and an additional 15 per cent were legal but non-Irish duty paid (duty-free purchased). This is the highest level of illegality and excise evasion recorded in this series of Revenue surveys since commenced in 2009.   

    Earlier this year, in its pre-budget submission, Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) called on the Minister for Finance Jack Chambers TD and his Department to introduce tough and effective Budget measures that will curb the current level of smuggled goods entering the country and protect the industry.   

    According to RAS, excise increases are driving the trends towards illicit market activity when it comes to cigarettes.  With prices on the black market reportedly as low €5-6, the latest excise increase threatens the business of local retailers, which has already drastically shrunk in recent years. With criminal gangs increasingly being linked to illicit cigarette sales, this excise increase rewards criminal gangs ahead of the interests of legitimate retailers. 

    By increasing the excise duty on tobacco by one euro, once again, the government has effectively thrown fuel on the fire, further driving consumers towards the illegal market and threatens the income of legitimate retailers.  

    Retailers Against Smuggling say the organisation is also extremely disappointed that once again the Department of Finance has decided to ignore warnings made in its own Tax Strategy Group papers of major tax losses from illegal cigarette trade. A review by RAS on the excise revenue received in the six years 2017-2022, shows that ahead of each budget, the Tax Strategy Group paper estimated over the six years that there would be cumulative additional receipts totaling €350 million. But, in reality, the actual revenue in that period fell from €1.397 million to €1.005 million, a €392 million shortfall. 

    It is especially disheartening considering that earlier this year, the former Minister for Finance Michael McGrath acknowledged in response to a parliamentary question that raising excise duties might be contributing to the growth of the black market. Yet, despite this recognition, the Government has chosen a course that will further worsen the situation and the losses to both legitimate retailers and the Exchequer.  

    In addition, the significant decrease in inflation acknowledged by Minister Chambers in his budget speech from 10% in 2023 to below 2% in 2024 was ignored when it comes to excise duty. 

  • Retailers Call For Budget 2025 To Tackle Ireland’s Smuggling Problem – Checkout.ie

    July 05 2024

    Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS) has this week called on the government to rethink its policy approach towards smuggling and illicit trade in Ireland ahead of the 2025 Budget.

    The representative body for the retail sector met earlier this week at Buswells Hotel on Kildare Street, opposite Leinster House, to make the call on the government.

    The pre-budget submission calls on the government to reduce or freeze consumer taxes including tobacco excise, increase funding for the detection and enforcement of smuggling, and amend the Finance Act to prosecute suspected smugglers at Circuit Court level or higher.

    RAS has made the recommendations in light of a number of findings over the past two years.

    Smuggling Figures

    RAS says that the scale and surmounting magnitude of the problem is clearly illustrated by the numbers with the value of illegal cigarette smuggling on course to double in 2024.

    In 2023, a total of 31 major seizures came to the value of €58 million, at a loss of €45 million to the exchequer.

    In the first half of 2024 alone, there has been 27 major seizures worth a total value of around €53 million and a loss to the exchequer of €40 million.

    A poll of over 1,000 Irish adults conducted earlier this year by Ireland Thinks on behalf of RAS found that illicit market activity is becoming more normalised among the Irish public.

    The poll found that a quarter (25%) of all respondents have knowingly purchased some goods or services from an unofficial or irregular seller in the past 12 months.

    A separate survey by Ipsos MRBI on behalf of the Revenue Commissioner found that in 2023, 19% of cigarette packs held by smokers were illegal, smuggled tobacco.

    An additional 15% were legal but non-Irish duty paid.

    This is the highest level of illegality and excise evasion detected by this series of annual Revenue Commissioner surveys since they commenced in 2009.

    ‘At Risk’

    Commenting on the pre-budget submission, the spokesperson for RAS Seamus Griffin said, “Smuggling is a real issue, that is hitting us where it hurts most.

    “While we as retailers play by the rules and uphold the law, smugglers are skirting around those same laws and cutting from our profits.

    “It is time for serious investment in detection and enforcement to ensure those breaking the law face real consequences.

    “Without this, the integrity of our businesses and livelihoods are at risk.”