Price of booze to stay the same as alcohol duty frozen in Budget
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt unveiled his spring Budget for 2024 at the House of Commons today.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt revealed that he will maintain a freeze on alcohol duty for the next year during his House of Commons Budget speech.
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The alcohol industry has welcomed the extension of the alcohol duty freeze as "some much-needed certainty and stability" for the industry and consumers alike.
Stephen Russell, founder of Copper Rivet Distillery and spokesman for the UK Spirits Alliance, said: "The Chancellor has raised the spirits of distillers, hospitality businesses and consumers alike.
"Maintaining the freeze announced in the autumn is good news for spirits drinkers, good news for pubs and bars and the wider economy, and good news for the Treasury as it will enhance revenue for the Exchequer.
"Spirits continue to be the highest taxed alcohol category in the UK - most people are shocked to hear that 80% of a bottle of gin is tax. We have the highest spirits duty rate among G7 nations, despite being a national success story.
"We look forward to engaging with HM Treasury on how we improve this."
Scotch Whisky Association chief executive Mark Kent said: "The industry welcomes the Chancellor's recognition of the benefits of continuing the duty freezes beyond August this year.
"That decision supports the Scotch whisky industry, will incentivise investment and, as with previous cuts and freezes, boost Treasury revenue.
"With cost pressures hurting our bars and pubs, not to mention hard-pressed consumers, the Treasury has provided some much-needed certainty and stability for the year ahead."
In his Budget last year, the Chancellor announced his intention to make draught relief more generous, reducing the tax on beers and ciders that are below 8.5 percent ABV and can be served on draught, by 9.2 percent.
Ultimately, despite this reduction, beer prices continued to rise with pub prices increasing by 7.5 percent from January 2023 to January 2024 according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Beer from shops also saw a hefty increase, rising by 8.6 percent year on year.
The Chancellor also faced calls before the announcement from industry experts to cut alcohol duty, the highest in Europe, which takes 80 percent of the price of a bottle of spirits in tax.
Before the Budget announcement, Mr Hunt also faced calls to introduce a tax on vaping products based on the levels of nicotine the vape liquid contains.
This came after the Government's announcement that it intended to place a blanket ban on disposable vapes and to phase out legal tobacco consumption in the future.
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