Biggest Duty increase in over 40 years!
It may be advisable to buy now before this increase in tax is applied!
We estimate we will see increases in still wine from £1.00 + per bottle e.g., a bottle selling at £8.99 will more than likely sell at £9.99.

As you may have seen in the news, in March this year the government announced that they will be implementing a new duty legislation as of 1st August 2023

The aim of this new legislation is to create standardised alcohol duty bands across all types of producers, (beer, spirits, cider, still and sparkling wines, as well as other fermented beverages), with all tax rates calculated based on the litres of pure alcohol in the product. This will reduce the number of tax bands from 15 to 8, which should make it simpler on paper, but it does represent the biggest change that the UK alcohol industry has experienced since 1975. Many in the trade pointed out the flaws in this new proposal but even with energetic lobbying from the wine trade, there has been little change to the proposed new mechanism.

Not only will the new system result in an increased tax burden for producers and suppliers of alcoholic drinks but the new framework for calculating duty rates will, in our opinion, create unnecessary complexity for the trade overall. It will bring with it a heavier burden of administration for all wine companies as they ensure compliance with the new excise framework.

Recognising that these changes will have a significant impact on the wine industry, the government has put in place a transitional period that begins on 1st August 2023 and ends 31st January 2025. During this period, all still and sparkling wines between 11.5% and 14.5% ABV should use an ‘assumed’ strength of 12.5% ABV when calculating duty to make it easier. Once the ABV is above 15% the duty rate increase at 0.5% intervals. This will still lead to a significant increase in duty rates on most wines and spirits.

“The Government has proposed a new system to calculate alcohol duty (tax) which we believe unfairly places a significant financial burden on to the wine and spirit sector.” WSTA (Wine & Spirits Trade Association)

For more information on this issue visit:

WSTA website www.wsta.co.uk
Read Gavin Quinney’s comprehensive article “A guide to UK duty hikes on wine” on www.gavinquinney.com

Unfortunately, as a result of these duty changes, we along with the rest of the drinks industry will have to increase prices from Tuesday 1st August 2023.