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Index

Latest News

More information about these news items can be found in our forums. You can access the forums by clicking here.

26th October 2001 - HM Customs & Excise have responded to Plantation House regarding the issue of duties on home grown tobacco for personal use. See the Europe page for more information. See the UK page to see the letter from HM Customs & Excise

24th September 2001 - Carlton TV filmed Chris Gurney with his tobacco crop, curing his tobacco in his curing chamber, and manufacturing it. The TV program is scheduled for broadcast early in 2002. Watch this space for more information!

31st August 2001 - HM Customs fly in to meet Plantation House to discuss the issue of taxation on home grown tobacco for personal use. The message from Customs is to "carry on as normal" !

22nd August 2001 - Plantation House owner Chris Gurney is to be filmed cutting, curing and manufacturing his tobacco by a TV company. The TV program is due to be shown January / February 2001. Chris will let us all know when the the program is to be shown so that you can all see how it's done !!

17th August 2001 - HM Customs have agreed to meet Plantation House owner Chris Gurney at his premises to see the home grown tobacco manufacturing process. Plantation House are confident that an agreement can be reached on the UK Excise Duty matters.

30th July 2001 - Plantation House owner Chris Gurney was interviewed on BBC London Live radio. Later the same day, he was interviewed by BBC TV News, and the television interview was broadcast across the UK.

Following our action, HM Customs and Excise have issued the following statement:

Very few people grow tobacco for personal consumption. Nevertheless Customs is required to levy duty on such consumption following changes to European law in 1992. Home-grown tobacco products deliver varying yields of tar and nicotine, some of which may be far higher than could be obtained from commercially-bought products.

Under EU legislation agreed in 1992 by the previous Government we are not permitted to exempt from duty any tobacco grown for personal consumption. The best opportunity to reflect this change fully in UK legislation was in new tobacco regulations that took effect in June 2001.

Customs apply a risk- based approach to allocating resources for tax collection and law enforcement. It makes sense for us to concentrate our efforts on importers and manufacturers who are responsible for paying almost all the tax, and on tackling smugglers who are trying to circumvent the duty.

24th July 2001 - Plantation House owner Chris Gurney discovered that HM Customs and Excise had implemented this new tax, and vowed to take action.

1st June 2001 - HM Customs and Excise have removed the tax exemption on "Grow your own Tobacco" as of June this year. Their HM Customs Notice 476 reads:

Question
2.10 Must private individuals pay duty on tobacco products made from tobacco which they grow themselves?

Answer
Yes. A private individual must pay the duty on any tobacco products which he makes from tobacco which he has grown himself. This applies whether the tobacco products are intended for sale or solely for the grower's own consumption. Anyone intending to manufacture tobacco products must comply with the conditions set out in this notice.