The alcohol duty hikes on 1 August 2023 were the biggest the UK has seen in nearly fifty years and the changes will impact all wines across the country.
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It doesn’t seem to matter what flavour of government you have at the moment – when it comes to the spirits and hospitality industries, there’s a stench of incompetence. In Scotland we have the incredibly public failure of the DRS scheme, which, as a result, has wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money. But don’t be fooled – it really is no better, south of the border. Westminster will raise you a cock up, in the form of the increased duty rates.
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Everyone in the UK trade will be acutely aware that the new duty system comes into effect on 1 August, making most wine more expensive and all of it much more complex to administer. The negative effects will be exacerbated on 1 February 2025, when the tax banding will be divided further into an extraordinary 27 different segments, with some going up and some going down.
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In April 2023, in what was described as an “industry first”, The Wine Society announced it would prevent price increases despite the effects of high inflation and rising duty costs.
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HMRC, the architects of the upcoming duty reforms, have released a ‘one-month to go’ reminder about the changes coming into effect on 1 August – though with one glaring omission.
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With just one month till the government’s alcohol tax hikes are effective, the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) has reiterated why the “crippling” duty increases should be scrapped.
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Industry chiefs have expressed a modicum of optimism about potential changes to the current plans for the new duty escalator, which could possibly avoid plunging businesses into a tangle of red tape – if only the government continues (or maybe begins) to listen to reason.
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The freeze on UK alcohol duty rates has been extended six months to 1 August 2023, the government announced yesterday (19 December 2022).
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Over 100 business executives from across the alcohol industry have signed a letter written to the Times calling on the Chancellor to bring back the freeze on alcohol duty.
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Planned increases in alcohol duty have been ditched by new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in his mini-budget, as unveiled on 23 September.
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Northern Ireland appears to be inching closer to the introduction of minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol after neighbours Republic of Ireland and Scotland introduced the legislation in January 2022 and May 2018, respectively.
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The Wine and Spirit APPG has published its SME Inquiry Report on the government’s ‘illogical and unfair’ reform to alcohol duty.
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The upcoming Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris trade symposiums will host an Agile Media sponsored event, brining together key stakeholders in the trade to debate the impact of the government's proposed changes to the duty system.
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A member of the Amazon Prime series Three Drinkers has condemned Rishi Sunak’s proposed changes to the duty system as “punishing female consumers”, highlighting that wine is the most popular alcoholic drink among women in the UK.
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed plans to simplify the current alcohol duty regime during yesterday’s Budget, when it was revealed that the Treasury would be adopting a new principle of “the stronger the drink, the higher the rate”.
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The news that the duty premium on sparkling wine being sold in the UK has been removed has been met with encouragement from the English and Welsh wine sector.
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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced the most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over a century by slashing the number of main duty rates from 15 to six, while also cutting the premium on sparkling wine.
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The Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA) is calling on the Government to overhaul the alcohol excise duty system and introduce new measures that would create a differential between alcohol sold in pubs and supermarkets.
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The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is again calling on the Government to freeze alcohol duty as consumers face record high prices over the festive period.
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The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) is calling on officials to urgently suspend all alcohol duty to ease the tax burden on beleaguered businesses ahead of next week’s deadline.
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