Clean living means US$17bil in lost ‘sin tax’ for UK

Reduced income: People cross a road in London. The decline of so-called ‘sin taxes’ in recent decades have left a £14bil (RM76bil) hole for the Treasury to fill as younger generations switch away from cigarettes to vapes and turn off the booze altogether. — Bloomberg

LONDON: The Generation Z’s (Gen Z) reputation for monkish living – smoking and drinking far less than their predecessors – is turning into yet another problem for the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt.

The decline of so-called “sin taxes” on tobacco and alcohol in recent decades have left a £14bil (US$17bil or RM76bil) hole for the Treasury to fill as younger generations switch away from cigarettes to vapes and turn off the booze altogether.