Cider: Excise Duties

(asked on 14th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the classification of flavoured cider being classified as wine; what comparative assessment his Department has made of the impact on cider breweries in relation to 4 per cent ABV flavoured cider, which has a duty charge of approximately 90p/litre, compared with the standard rate of cider which is approximately 40p/litre; and if he will make it his policy to classify flavoured cider as standard cider.


Answered by
Helen Whately Portrait
Helen Whately
Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 21st March 2022

At Autumn Budget 2021, the Chancellor announced a number of reforms to modernise and improve the tax system for cider from February 2023.

As part of this, the Government intends to move to a taxation system which taxes cider on the basis of its alcohol content. This will result in higher strength ciders – which are currently undertaxed – paying duty in proportion to strength. The Treasury considers the impact this will have on business decision-making difficult to estimate, as different businesses will have different business models. We will continue to engage with industry as our review progresses and value feedback on this point.

Regarding flavoured ciders, the Government has decided to keep the existing cider category and its substantially lower rate to remain focused on traditional cider, recognising the part cider producers play in local economies and the cultural value attached to cider. Therefore, there are no plans to equalise flavoured and non-flavoured cider duty rates at this stage.

Further detail about the impact of our alcohol duty reforms on cidermakers, including breweries that produce cider, will be included in a tax information and impact note when the policy is final, or near final, in the usual way.

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