Call for higher VAT on supermarket alcohol
VAT should be increased on drinks sold in supermarkets and off-licences - but not the on-trade, a leading doctor has suggested.
VAT should be increased on drinks sold in supermarkets and off-licences - but not the on-trade, a leading doctor has suggested.
Writing in the British Medical Journal, Dr Nick Sheron, a liver specialist from Southampton University, said the move would promote public health and also save pubs.
He said the government had not given any reason why the policy could not be implemented, and argued that the move would not be as problematic as introducing a minimum price on alcohol. But Dr Sheron said that price increases, however they were acheived, could cut liver disease.
He said: "For someone consuming 15 units a week, the difference between 30p and 40p a unit is £1.50, whereas my patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis consume a mean of 100 units, and in some cases up to 400 units a week - a difference of £10 and £40. This would have a substantial impact."
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56-58 Church Walk, Burgess Hill, West Sussex, RH15 9AN
Registered in England No. 6646125. VAT No. 938 4452 95
