Tobacco smuggling: HMRC 'failures' highlighted by MPs

MPs have warned HM Revenue and Customs initiatives to fight tobacco smuggling are not working.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the UK economy lost £1.9bn a year through tobacco smuggling, equal to 20% of all tax collected on cigarettes.

An HMRC spokesman said it had more than halved the size of the illicit market in cigarettes.

However Public Accounts Committee chairperson Margaret Hodge said the government is ''failing'' to meet its targets.