Beer: Excise Duties

(asked on 12th May 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) freezing and (b) deferring beer duty for the independent brewery sector during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Kemi Badenoch Portrait
Kemi Badenoch
President of the Board of Trade
This question was answered on 19th May 2020

To support brewers and drinkers, at the Budget the Government froze beer duty for the third consecutive Budget.

The Government appreciates that brewers, particularly small or craft ones, are facing a challenging trading period due to COVID-19. However, they can benefit from the unprecedented package of business support offered by the Government.

In addition, if brewers need more help, they can use HMRC’s Time To Pay service to seek deferrals of any of their taxes, including beer duty. HMRC will waive late payment penalties and interest where a brewer cannot pay taxes due to COVID-19.

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