Registering with the Raw Tobacco Scheme – Revisted

Long term readers here may recall that a while back I registered with the HMRC for their raw tobacco scheme as I sometimes grow the stuff for various purposes, mainly wine making, and of course because the regulations are insane. Well as it’s a new year I received a letter asking me to let them know if “Raw Tobacco approval” was still required, which was all quite expected. As the decorative varieties didn’t take that well and the smokable varieties are getting out competed by the cobb nut trees and grape vines I’m not bothering this year, though maybe next … Continue reading

Registering with the Raw Tobacco Scheme III

Mission accomplished! In the post today I received a very dull letter on gray paper from HMRC, providing me with me Raw Tobacco approval number which “should be quoted on all correspondence relating” to my “controlled activities”. I still wonder just why growing plants and throwing them away should be controlled but there you go. I’m now approved for a year to throw away up to 15kg of dead Nicotiana plants. All it took was a short letter and a phone call to be allowed to throw away legal garden waste. Time will tell if they come round to inspect … Continue reading

Registering with the Raw Tobacco Scheme II

A little while back the HMRC introduced the Raw Tobacco Scheme, and I as a keen gardener and law abiding citizen duly applied to register with them. Today a charming lady from HMRC gave me a call to discuss my application , despite my saying all communication in writing please but I forgive them. The call mainly went over my application, why was I registering and such. Having established that I was registering purely as a gardener they wanted to know how many plants I have growing and how many of the annual variety I was planning to plant. When … Continue reading