More than 100 wine and spirits producers and the Wine and Spirit Trade Association have made a last ditch plea to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to cut alcohol duty. In a letter from the WSTA and 120 businesses, the sector called on chancellor Jeremy Hunt and exchequer secretary to the Treasury Gareth Davies to “help prevent further price rises for consumers, drive down inflation and increase income to the Treasury”. It also called to make “permanent the wine easement will save thousands of wine businesses pointless and costly bureaucracy.” The news follows HMRC excise duty receipts last week which showed the Treasury lost £436m between September 2023 and January 2024 compared with the same period in 2022/23 and when added with beer and cider, came to more than £600m. Changes to the alcohol duty system in August 2023 were the most significant in 50 years, adding 20% to excise duty on more than 85% of all wines on the UK market, and more than 10% to duty paid on full-strength spirits. As a result of the move, sales volumes have declined, alcohol inflation has risen to more than double the headline rate, while revenue from duty receipts has declined, the WSTA said. In addition, in the upcoming WSTA market report, in the twelve weeks to December sales of spirits and wine were in decline in Britain’s supermarkets and shops, with spirit volume sales down 7.1% and wine down 4.1%. Red tape Another call is also being made to cut unnecessary red tape by the
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Wine
