UK Duty

[bifter]

I have always been aware that different drinks are taxed in different ways but I had never actually sat down and done some worked examples until today. So here are some titbits from my research:

The current rate of Spirits Duty is £26.81 per litre of pure alcohol. This is pretty straightforward but how does it stack up against other drinks?

Well, still wine and made-wine exceeding 5.5% but not exceeding 15% abv are charged duty of £253.39 per 100l of product. As an illustration, let's say 12% as is common, the duty will be £21.08 per litre of alcohol

Most beers are charged General Beer Duty at £19.51 per hectolitre % of alcohol. For example, if you release a hectolitre of beer of a strength 5% abv, your Beer Duty liability would be £97.55 (£19.51 × 1 × 5) or £19.51 per litre of alcohol.

Still cider and perry exceeding 1.2% but not exceeding 7.5% abv are charged duty of £37.68 per 100l. Again let's do an illustration of, say, 4% as is common. This works out at £9.25 per litre of alcohol. No wonder it's the wino's choice!

I had understood that duty on whisky was higher by volume of alcohol but it really is taxed utterly disproportionately! Is anyone else surprised like me? Also I don't understand why a simple flat rate isn't charged, this would seem fairer to everyone! The effect is also amplified by VAT which is charged on top of the whole lot so spirits again have a tax mark up compared to other drinks.

Another question that crossed my mind is import duties. The EU is a common market so presumably any wines from within the EU are duty free, but are there tariffs on wines and spirits from the new world and the non-EU European nations? (Of course most 'foreign' beers and ciders are produced under licence in the EU.)
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"Whisky is liquid sunshine."
[George Bernard Shaw]

[Calder]

I have always known that whisky is taxed disproportionately, the Scotch Whisky Association is always shouting about it and continues to lobby the government for equality on alcohol duty.

These days when the government increase duty and use the excuse that the increase is to curb the increasing drink problem in the UK i always laugh. Why dont they increase cider duty as you say bifter it is the wino's choice and its price undoubtedly contribites to the nations drink problem especially amongst teenagers, and that is something the government should be targeting.

[Mark]

I doubt they will ever bring alcohol duty into line, they make too much money from whisky and always have for hundreds of years now, i am surprised that the fairness of the the different levels of duty taxation has never been challenged legally.

[William]

Once the excise duty is added, VAT is then added This means that the price of a bottle of Scotch Whisky is subject to a tax upon a tax

Why Scotch Whisky is still taxed more heavily than other drinks in the UK i dont know. It really is about time we had a fair and responsible system which taxes all alcoholic drinks according to alcohol content.
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There's no bad whisky. Just good whisky and better whisky.

[albo]

A agree, why alcohol isn't taxed as the same rate regardless of what's in the bottle is beyond me.

Let's give leeway to the jakies drinking super strength cider and punish those who drink a refined drink. That's what I'd do if I were in charge.

As my father would say, 'the idiots are running the asylum'