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Surge in landfill tax blamed for fly-tip epidemic blighting Britain

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Ellicot, C. (2026, September 27). Surge in landfill tax blamed for fly-tip epidemic blighting Britain. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16164975/Surge-landfill-tax-blamed-fly-tip-epidemic.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Daily Mail · collected 2026-09-27 · by Claire Ellicot

Quick Summary

A report by the Institute for Economic Affairs warns that soaring landfill taxes in Britain, which have increased from £7 per tonne in 1996 to £126.15 in 2025, are driving a surge in fly-tipping. The number of fly-tipping incidents rose 31% since 2018/19, reaching a record 1.26 million cases in England in 2024/25. Additionally, the think-tank notes that high taxes on tobacco have fueled a booming black market for cigarettes, with nearly one-third of all smoked cigarettes being illegal and revenues from tax decreasing despite fewer people smoking overall.
Written by AI on 2026-09-27, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Soaring landfill taxes in England are driving a surge in fly-tipping, with incidents increasing by 31% since 2018/19 to reach 1.26 million cases in 2024/25, according to a report by the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA). The landfill tax has risen from £7 per tonne in 1996 to £126.15 in 2025, yet revenues have halved in real terms. The IEA highlights that HMRC estimated the gap between landfill taxes and actual revenues reached £240 million in 2024/25. One egregious case involved 21,000 tonnes of dumped waste in Oxfordshire, projected to cost £7.3 million for cleanup. Additionally, high tobacco duties have led to a booming black market, with nearly one-third of cigarettes now counterfeit and sales of legal cigarettes dropping by 46% between 2021 and 2024.

Written for “Landfill Tax Increase Effects” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Landfill Tax Increase Effects
Environment · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Environment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-27 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 9207 article(s) · 22 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 22 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Claire Ellicot
3 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 It also highlighted a case in Oxfordshire where 21,000 tonnes of rubbish were dumped in a field, leaving a predicted £7.3million clean-up bill.
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Also by Claire Ellicot
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Daily Mail England Gloucester Google IEA

Subjects

IEA ORG · 3× Gloucester GPE · 2× Britain GPE · 1× Daily Mail ORG · 1× England GPE · 1× Google ORG · 1× HMRC ORG · 1× Oxfordshire GPE · 1× the Environment Agency ORG · 1× the Institute for Economic Affairs ORG · 1×

Narrative

A plot of land at Over near Gloucester which the Environment Agency are investigating for alleged persistent fly-tipping Pictured: More than 200 tonnes of fly-tipped rubbish on land in St Oswolds, Gloucester It added that the number of smokers buying black market tobacco doubled between 2023 and 2025, with 32.3 per cent of cigarettes now counterfeit.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-27
🔮 It also highlighted a case in Oxfordshire where 21,000 tonnes of rubbish were dumped in a field, leaving a predicted £7.3million clean-up bill.
2026-09-27 · Daily Mail
Surge in landfill tax blamed for fly-tip epidemic blighting Britain · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 1 hedged)

- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Soaring landfill taxes are driving record amounts of fly-tipping, a report warns. asserted
report → see → tipping
Landfill levies have increased from £7 per tonne in 1996 to £126.15 in 2025 – yet revenues have roughly halved in real terms, a think-tank found. asserted
tank → increase → terms
Fly-tipping has risen 31 per cent since 2018/19, reaching a record 1.26million incidents in England in 2024/25 – with the Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) arguing taxing the sector more has backfired. asserted
taxing → rise → sector
It said HMRC estimated the gap between landfill taxes and revenues reached £240million in 2024/5. asserted
gap → say → 2024/5
It also highlighted a case in Oxfordshire where 21,000 tonnes of rubbish were dumped in a field, leaving a predicted £7.3million clean-up bill. asserted
tonnes → highlight → bill
And as well as landfill taxes, the think-tank blamed high duties on tobacco for fuelling the booming black market. asserted
tank → blame → market
It said nearly one in three of all cigarettes smoked in Britain were now illegal and revenues from tax were declining. asserted
revenues → say → tax
While this is partly due to fewer people smoking – with the number of adult smokers dropping 20 per cent between 2021 and 2024 – legal cigarette sales have dropped by 46 per cent over the same period. asserted
sales → smoke → period
A plot of land at Over near Gloucester which the Environment Agency are investigating for alleged persistent fly-tipping Pictured: More than 200 tonnes of fly-tipped rubbish on land in St Oswolds, Gloucester It added that the number of smokers buying black market tobacco doubled between 2023 and 2025, with 32.3 per cent of cigarettes now counterfeit. asserted
cent → investigate → cigarettes
Meanwhile, predictions that alcohol duty would raise £14.2billion in the 2024/5 financial year did not materialise – and receipts fell to £12.4billion in 2025/6, it added. asserted
it → raise → 2025/6
The IEA said that the combined revenue from alcohol, tobacco and landfill duties came in £5.2billion below Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts in 2024/5. asserted
revenue → say → 2024/5
Despite repeated tax rises, the think-tank highlighted how the duties had raised £3.2billion less than they did in 2021/2. asserted
they → repeat → 2021/2
Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics for the IEA who compiled the report, insisted that 'there comes a point when squeezing taxpayers harder simply stops working'. asserted
squeezing → compile → taxpayers
He said: 'Excessive taxes are not only costing the Treasury billions in lost revenue, they are creating lucrative opportunities for criminals and making illegal waste dumping more attractive.' Mr Snowdon suggested that ahead of the Budget on October 28, 'the Government should recognise that endlessly raising tax rates does not guarantee more revenue', adding: 'As even the OBR acknowledges with cigarette duty, some taxes have already been pushed too far.' uncertain
taxes → say → duty
Local authorities were earlier this year handed powers to impose penalties of up to £5,000 on those caught fly-tipping. asserted
authorities → hand → tipping
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