Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government makes funding available to support businesses producing alcoholic beverages.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government values the important contribution that the alcohol industry makes to our economy and society, and the new duty system, introduced on 1 August 2023, contains many benefits for alcohol producers, including two new reliefs.
The new Small Producers Relief means that small producers now see reduced duty rates on all products below 8.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) up to a production threshold.
The new Draught Relief means that all alcoholic products under 8.5 per cent ABV which are sold in containers of 20 litres or more and are sold to connect to a dispense system qualify for reduced duty rates. This relief provides a reduction in the duty on draught beer and cider products by 9.2 per cent, and by 23 per cent on qualifying draught wine-based, spirits-based and other fermented products.
Asked by: Philip Davies (Conservative - Shipley)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the potential revenue lost from illegal gambling.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimates the size of the tax gap, which is the difference between the amount of tax that should, in theory, be paid to HMRC, and what is actually paid. The tax gap statistics are published annually and are available at: Measuring tax gaps - Measuring tax gaps 2023 edition: tax gap estimates for 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
HMRC does not separately estimate a betting and gaming duty tax gap; it forms part of the ‘other excise duties’ tax gap, namely betting and gaming, cider and perry, spirits-based ready-to-drink beverages and wine duties gaps.
Written Evidence Oct. 24 2023
Inquiry: UK accession to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)Found: ACP0018 - UK accession to Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP
Nov. 20 2023
Source Page: Submit a pleasure craft reportFound: litre of spirits or strong liqueurs (over 22% abv), or2 litres of fortified wine (such as port or sherry
Feb. 19 2024
Source Page: Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) Continuation and future pricing: Business and Regulatory Impact AssessmentFound: Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) Continuation and future pricing: Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment
Cap the cost of non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits
- Final Signatures: 74
Taking into account the fact that alcoholic drinks are subject to significant duty, whereas non-alcoholic drinks are duty free, The Government should introduce a cap to ensure that alcohol free beers, wines and spirits are not more expensive than alcoholic ones.
Found: When the public are being encouraged to take more responsibility for the health of the nation and a reduction
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has plans to make an assessment of the potential merits of further measures to support (a) SME, (b) independent and (c) other wine and spirits businesses with high-street presence in the context of (i) the increase in alcohol duty brought in in August 2023 and (ii) the end of business rates relief at the end of the 2023-24 financial year.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government has undertaken the biggest reform of alcohol duties for over 140 years and has introduced a new, simplified alcohol duty system based on the common-sense principle of taxing alcohol by strength. The Government is closely monitoring the impact of the 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.
At Autumn Statement 2022 the Government announced an increased 75% relief for retail, hospitality and leisure properties, up to a cash cap of £110,000 per business for 2023-24. This is a tax cut worth over £2 billion for around 230,000 RHL businesses, to support the high street and protect small shops and pubs.
Decisions on future business rates support will be made in due course.
Dec. 06 2023
Source Page: World Trade Organization: Hong Kong, China’s Trade Policy Review, December 2023: UK StatementFound: Chair, the UK and Hong Kong, China enjoy people-to-people, cultural, and trade ties.
Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the increase in alcohol duty on (a) economic growth and (b) job creation within the Scotch Whisky industry.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The potential impacts of the recent changes to alcohol duty rates were published at Spring Budget in HMRC’s Tax Information and Impact Note and can be found online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-alcohol-duty-rates/alcohol-duty-rate-changes#summary-of-impacts.
This Government is supporting Scotch Whisky. We have provided a series of cuts and freezes to alcohol duties in the past decade. Before Spring Budget 2023, the spirits industry has benefitted from cuts or freezes to spirits duty at eight out of the last nine fiscal events, since the end of the duty escalator for spirits in 2013. The most recent alcohol duty freeze from Autumn Budget 2021, including the extension to 1 August 2023, represented a total tax cut of £2.7 billion over the next four years.
We have also undertaken the biggest reform of alcohol duties in 140 years and moved all alcohol products to being taxed based on their strength, narrowing the gap between spirits and still wine.
Further, we have removed punitive tariffs on Scotch Whisky imposed on the US market and are committed to protecting the interests of Scotch Whisky in trading agreements, ensuring that they face lower tariffs for export, and that the unique characteristics and global reputation of Scotch is protected, as demonstrated recently in our free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand, and the CPTPP.
Mar. 13 2024
Source Page: Scottish Health Survey and health record dataFound: Scottish Health Survey and health record data