Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to take steps to avoid spirits producers forestalling sales to reduce the amount of duty they owe.

As with all taxes, the government keeps the alcohol duty system under review during its yearly Budget process.

HMRC published its most recent quarterly alcohol bulletin in November 2023. This can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/alcohol-bulletin

The publication contains annual duty receipts from alcohol types, including spirits. The accompanying tables contain historical annual and monthly duty receipts for spirits. The next instalment of this bulletin is due to be published on 29 February 2024.