The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has warned today’s 5.1% increase in alcohol duty in the Budget brings “further unwanted price rises for consumers and threatens to cause more job losses in the drinks industry in the year ahead”.
Today’s Budget rise means taxes on wine and spirits have risen by over 25% and 20% respectively since March 2008. Since 1997 the Government has taken an extra £4bn from consumers in alcohol taxes.
The effect of the tax on a typical item in pence is as follows:
o 10p on a 75cl bottle of wine
o 36p on a 70cl bottle of spirits
o 2p on a pint of beer
The Chancellor went ahead with the tax escalator, which automatically increases tax on alcohol by two percentage points above inflation.
WSTA chief executive Jeremy Beadles said: “Successive punitive tax rises on alcohol are taking their toll on household budgets and mean further job losses in the drinks industry are on the cards this year.
“The last year alone has seen business closures and 30,000 job losses and today’s Budget means higher prices for consumers and more misery in a sector that ought to be part of Britain’s economic recovery.”
Source: WSTA
