Tobacco track and trace: penalties and sanctions — CC/FS76
Updated 9 November 2023
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This factsheet tells you about the tobacco track and trace (TT&T) scheme. It also tells you about the penalties we may charge and other sanctions we may apply if you breach the regulations of that scheme.
This factsheet is one of a series of compliance checks factsheets. For the full list, go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC compliance checks factsheets’.
If you need help
If you have any health or personal circumstances that may make it difficult for you to deal with us, please tell the officer who contacted you. We’ll help you in whatever way we can. For more details, go to GOV.UK and search ‘get help from HMRC if you need extra support’.
You can also ask someone else to deal with us on your behalf, for example, a professional adviser, friend or relative. We may however still need to talk or write to you directly about some things. If we need to write to you, we’ll send a copy to the person you’ve asked us to deal with. If we need to talk to you, they can be with you when we do, if you prefer.
About tobacco track and trace
TT&T tracks products from manufacture or import into the UK through to the first retailer. Tobacco packages are scanned throughout the supply chain and the data is stored in the UK repository.
For tobacco products in Northern Ireland, data will be submitted to the repositories in the UK and the EU.
Registering for tobacco track and trace
Businesses involved in the supply chain of tobacco products are required to register with the UK ID issuer. This includes businesses which:
- manufacture or import
- store or sell to trade or to the public
- transload (move from one vehicle to another)
The ID issuer for the UK is Dentsu Tracking. When you register with them, they will issue you with an economic operator identity (EOID) code.
To find out more about what these businesses need to do, go to GOV.UK and search ‘tobacco product traceability’.
Meeting your obligations under the law
From 1 April 2019, anyone in the UK who buys and sells cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco must comply with the TT&T regulations. This is to make sure they deal only in legitimate, UK duty-paid tobacco products.
There are different regulations that apply, depending on which part of the supply chain your business falls into. To find out about the specific obligations for your business, go to GOV.UK and search ‘rules for tobacco products’.
Penalties for not complying with your obligations
The Finance Act 2022 introduced tougher sanctions to tackle the sale of illicit tobacco.
If we find that you or your business has not complied with the relevant obligations, we may charge a penalty. There are also further sanctions that can apply. We explain these in the next section of this factsheet.
The penalty regime that applies to TT&T is based on 2 factors:
- how many units of tobacco products have been found that breach the regulations
- how many times you have previously been found to be in breach of the regulations
A unit is 20 cigarettes or 30g of hand-rolling tobacco (HRT).
You can see the penalties that apply to each situation in the table below.
| Number of times the business has breached the regulations | Less than 100 units found on this occasion | 100 to 299 units found on this occasion | 300 to 499 units found on this occasion | 500 or more units found on this occasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Once | £2,500 | £5,000 | £7,500 | £10,000 |
| Twice | £5,000 | £7,500 | £10,000 | £10,000 |
| Three or more | £7,500 | £10,000 | £10,000 | £10,000 |
Further sanctions
If we find you have breached the regulations, we can also apply further sanctions. We will not apply any sanctions if it’s the first time we’ve found you to be in breach.
There are 2 sanctions we can apply. We can:
- remove genuine tobacco products
- deactivate your EOID or facility identity (FID) code
Removal of genuine tobacco products
This sanction allows us to seize any genuine tobacco products that are on your premises alongside illicit tobacco products.
Deactivation of your EOID or facility identity (FID) code
This sanction allows us to deactivate your EOID or facility identity code for a period of time. The maximum amount of time we can deactivate your EOID or facility identity code depends on:
- how many units of tobacco products we’ve found to be in breach of the regulations
- how many times we’ve previously found you to be in breach of the regulations – it does not matter how many units were found on those occasions
A unit is 20 cigarettes or 30g of HRT.
You can see the maximum deactivation periods that apply to each situation in the table below.
| Number of times the business has breached the regulations | Less than 100 units found on this occasion | 100 to 299 units found on this occasion | 300 to 499 units found on this occasion | 500 or more units found on this occasion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Once | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
| Twice | 6 months | 6 months | 6 months | 5 years |
| Three or more | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years |
If we think the deactivation sanction should apply, we’ll write and let you know. We’ll give you the chance to tell us why you think we should not deactivate your EOID or facility identity code. We’ll then consider all the evidence about your case and make our decision. If we decide to deactivate your EOID or facility identity code, we’ll write and tell you the:
- start date of the deactivation
- length of time the deactivation will last for
You’ll be able to appeal against our decision. In some limited circumstances, we can pause the deactivation until your appeal has been heard by the independent tribunal that deals with tax. We’ll tell you about this when we send you our decision.
If you disagree
If there’s something you do not agree with, please tell us.
If we make a decision that you can appeal against, we’ll write to you about the decision and tell you what to do if you disagree. You’ll usually have 3 options.
Within 30 days, you can:
- send new information to the officer dealing with the check and ask them to take it into account
- have your case reviewed by an HMRC officer who has not been involved in the matter
- arrange for an independent tribunal to hear your appeal and decide the matter
You can find out more about appeals in the HMRC1 guidance ‘How to get a review of an HMRC decision’. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC1’.
More information
Our privacy notice
Our privacy notice sets out the standards that you can expect from us when we ask for information or hold information about you. Go to GOV.UK and search ‘HMRC Privacy Notice’.
If you are unhappy with our service
Please tell the person or office you’ve been dealing with. They’ll try to put things right. If you are still unhappy, they’ll tell you how to make a formal complaint.