Do smokers pay too much tax? (see details)?

Question

£4 tax on a pack of 20 ciggy's, 7 boxes a week, £28 a week, 52 weeks £1456 a year (tax), 25% of country are smokers (65 million people) = 17,000,000 x £1456 = £24,752,000,000 per year on ciggy taxes. but we dont pay for it. lol

We keep the NHS running (in britain) but get moaned at.

lets all stop smoking then the government can raise more taxes, and everyone can moan!

wow, nice to see people get personal, just for information, i work full time, pay taxes on income, on car, on petrol, on vat, on just about everything, oincluding ciggerettes, this was a serious question, but some people take it personally, im glad i dont stoop to such low abuse.

the above cash amounts i used were my own view, but read this link, proves that smokers pay for the nhs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4709394.stm

oh, and i forgot, the ciggerette manufacturers pay £2.9 billion taxes to the uk government a year too. mmmm but we still dont pay for the NHS, yeah right.

Answer 1

Yes and no!! Yes because we know they are not REALLY concerned for our health! No because,as smokers,we KNOW the tax we have to pay,but we CHOOSE to pay it!! So ask yourself,who are the real mugs?? I know I am! The budget is due shortly,yet another increase....................
moan......moan........moan!!!!!!
*********Just a note************
As Alchohol levels reach record high, misuse among all age groups is estimated to cost the NHS pounds 1.7bn a year. !!!!
So smokers are NOT the only ones!!!!!! How many of you on here, condeming smokers, drink?????????? Hypocritical???????

Answer 2

How about this...you also have the freedom of choice not to smoke cigarettes. It's called a consumer tax. And the last time I checked, alcohol is taxed, at least in my state, per gallon sold. Why are you only going to tax obese people for eating fast food, last time I checked thin people eat fast food as well. We are taxed for being white, black, hispanic, etc. It's called the Federal Income Tax, at least for those of us who work. So, yes, we are taxed for working. Not only in the federal income tax but also the social security tax. In many states it will soon be a majority/primary law to wear your seat belt. In the state of Washington, you can be pulled over for not wearing your seatbelt, and it's a $90 fine to the driver for each person in the car not wearing a seatbelt. And, guess what, I support it as well. Why not protect yourself. It's stupid to get in a car without the seatbelt. Statistics prove it. This is a free country! Thank goodness. I can travel where I wish and state my opinion how I wish without being subjected to someone's cigarette smoke. You still have the freedom to smoke, just not in my personal space or that of others. We all make choices. And many of them deal with taxed items. Living as an American is a privilege, not a right. So make a choice to stop smoking and live a longer life, or don't. The choice is yours! And just for the sake of argument, tell me something that isn't taxed.

Answer 3

Bulk buy on the Continent two or three times a year and stick it right up Greasy Gordon Brown the Tax Robber.

Answer 4

I've got mixed emotions on this one. On one hand I dislike cigs and can't stand the way they smell. On the other they are legal. Now as we know, liberal/socialist want to take care of the poor by taxing the rich. But it isn't the rich who smoke because they have more sense than to do it while the poor are the ones who smoke and get hit with the tax. Just proves what kind of hypocrites the libs/socialist are. If they really cared they would outlaw them, but they want the money. Sorry, let me get off my soapbox.

Answer 5

I don't think smoking costs too much tax,in fact i really wish the tax went up,that would certainly put fags beyond my reach then.As for THIA/GINGER TOM,and all the other non-smoker's who detest being in the company of smoker's-just stop breathing then and do us all a favour,simple really,your problem solved,our's too!

Answer 6

To all of the answerers who imply we smokers "deserve" to be taxed - I say let's heavily tax ALL vices, bad habits and rude behavior:

We'll start with alcohol - beer and liqueur - that OK with you?

Then we can move on to all vehicles that burn fossil fuels and pollute our environment far more than tobacco - that's pretty reasonable.

After that, we can get started on people who yak on cell phones in public places - restaurants, movie theaters, etc - big fines - that'll be OK, eh?

And a big tax on all insecticides, any product containing lead or mercury, all products that aren't biodegradable ............ I think you get the drift ...... cigarettes just happen to be the wagon everyone's jumping on presently - tomorrow - look out - it could be something YOU buy on a regular basis.

Answer 7

WOW what a fantastic debate on this question, congratulations!

We who choose to smoke should inhabit a large continent where we can grow our own product and supply our own NHS & government.

Wait a minute maybe we couild send all the non smokers to the moon.

Answer 8

Yes, it works out smokers cost the NHS £1.5 billion a year, but the British Government collect £7billion taxes from smokers (you can check figures at the treasury) so where is the other £5.5 billion

Answer 9

Quite right we are. We are not the burden on the N.H.S. that they say we are as we have paid our national insurance and the tax on cigs to cover this. We usually die younger saving the government a packet on pension payments. It is that we are discriminated against by all sections of the community. Not all people that smoke die of heart disease or cancer. Many people who don't smoke die of exactly the same illnesses as us so they can't blame us for that. It is a freedom of choice whether one smokes or not. They have not banned it in the house of commons have they? It is just a cash cow for Blair and his cronies so that they can get their snouts deeper into the trough.

Answer 10

Nobody forces you to smoke, and i think your 1 in 4 might be an exaggeration i can't believe there are that many stupid people in England, Smoking related diseases cost the health service more than any others and the cost of cigarette tax does not pay for it, the reason people moan is because they do not want to come home smelling like an ashtray every time they go out,or have to turn away when they have a conversation with a cigarette smoker who has stinking breath, they also breath your smoke that can eventually kill them even though they dont want to.