{"id":687,"date":"2026-05-15T13:42:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/?p=687"},"modified":"2026-05-15T13:42:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T13:42:44","slug":"ras-warns-that-illegal-tobacco-trade-is-continuing-to-escalate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/2026\/05\/15\/ras-warns-that-illegal-tobacco-trade-is-continuing-to-escalate\/","title":{"rendered":"RAS Warns That Illegal Tobacco Trade Is Continuing To Escalate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.checkout.ie\/tag\/retailers-against-smuggling\">Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS)<\/a>&nbsp;has said that the publication of a new survey proves the continuing escalation of Ireland\u2019s illicit&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.checkout.ie\/tag\/tobacco\">tobacco<\/a>&nbsp;market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Revenue Commissioners\u2019\u2019 Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey 2025, independently conducted by Ipsos MRBI, was published on Thursday, found that illegal and non-duty paid tobacco in circulation has hit a record high of 38% of cigarettes in circulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The figures are even bigger for Roll-Your-Own (RYO) tobacco, with 45% of RYO in circulation being either illegal or non-duty paid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on the findings from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.checkout.ie\/tag\/revenue\">Revenue<\/a>, as well as recent data from the Department of Finance, RAS has concluded that Ireland\u2019s untaxed cigarette market is now worth \u20ac845 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Based on the survey results, the level of tax loss from illegal cigarettes reached \u20ac645 million, up from \u20ac590 million in 2024, highlighting the worsening scale of the issue facing both the Exchequer and Irish retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u2018Unintended Consequence\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking about the findings, RAS national spokesperson, Benny Gilsenan, said, \u201cToday\u2019s findings are stark. Ireland is awash with tobacco products that have no tax paid on them in this country because they are being bought illegally or being brought into the country from cheaper markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe government\u2019s approach to Ireland\u2019s tobacco market is driving unintended consequences, largely as a result of exorbitant excise rates which are pushing consumers towards cheaper alternatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen legal products are priced out of reach, consumers are drawn to illicit, untaxed tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCriminal networks are the clear winners, while legitimate retailers \u2013 our local convenience stores and newsagents \u2013 are the big losers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to the survey, RAS called on the government to freeze excise rates on tobacco products in Budget 2027, oppose EU plans to equalise excise rates on RYO tobacco which would further drive up the price in Ireland, and commence a similar survey of illegal and non-duty-paid products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Retailers Against Smuggling (RAS)&nbsp;has said that the publication of a new survey proves the continuing escalation of Ireland\u2019s illicit&nbsp;tobacco&nbsp;market. The Revenue Commissioners\u2019\u2019 Illegal Tobacco Products Research Survey 2025, independently conducted by Ipsos MRBI, was published on Thursday, found that illegal and non-duty paid tobacco in circulation has hit a record high of 38% of cigarettes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=687"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":688,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/687\/revisions\/688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.retailersagainstsmuggling.ie\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}