Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making the easement for levying wine duty permanent.

As part of the new alcohol duty system, the Government introduced a wine easement for 18 months which will last until February 2025. During this period, all wine between 11.5-14.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) will pay duty as if it were 12.5% ABV. This gives the wine industry over two years to adapt to the new system.

The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the recent reforms and will evaluate the impact of the new rates and structures three years after the changes took effect on 1 August 2023. This will allow time to understand the impacts on the alcohol market, and for HMRC to gather useful and accurate data with which to evaluate the effects of the reform.

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