UK drinks industry breathes sigh of relief as Chancellor freezes duty in budget
The UK drinks industry gave the thumbs up to the Chancellor’s budget yesterday, in which duty on wines, spirits and beers is to be frozen, allaying concerns over another rise in line with inflation.
Hammond' duty freeze, only the second in 15 years, provoked a cheer in the House of Commons, and one that was also echoed across the UK drinks trade.
“We are pleased that the chancellor has found his festive spirit and listened to the call from the WSTA and its members and has frozen wine and spirit duty,” said the WSTA’s chief executive Miles Beale.
“He has shown the Government is in touch with what consumers want and is supporting an industry which is proving to be a real asset to British business.” He added that “rebalancing the UK’s excessive duty rates is a win-win for both the Treasury [and] the wine and spirit trade,” with a freeze in the 2015 budget, the first of only two to date over the last 15 years – boosting wine duty by £136m and duty on spirits by £124m during that period.
According to the WSTA, the change in government policy will save the Uk wine and spirit business around £247m. The sector contributes more than £7.5bn to the Treasury in duty each year, while supporting over 550,000 British jobs and generating £50bn for the UK economy.
The freeze means that duty on a 750ml bottle of wine will remain at £2.15 and sparkling wine at £2.77.