Chancellor ‘tops up’ draught duty relief with increase from 5 to 9.2%
The Society of Independent Brewers have today responded to the Budget announcements that the lower rate for draught beer will be topped up to 9.2% when the new changes go live in August.
“While it’s welcome that the Chancellor has topped up the draught relief from 5% to 9.2%, by increasing overall duty by RPI, the Government has eroded the benefits of the wider big bang changes to the alcohol duty system that are being introduced in August.
“We are also disappointed in the lack of support for pubs, bars and taprooms, which are a critical part of small brewers’ businesses and are facing existential threats from energy price hikes, a cost of living crisis and other inflationary costs.
The Craft Beer Report launching tomorrow shows the extent of the stubborn post-Covid hangover for pubs, with a worrying 20% of people having not visited a pub in the last twelve months.” Andy Slee, SIBA Chief Executive.
SIBA will tomorrow (16th March) be publishing the SIBA Craft Beer Report, an extensive health-check on the state of the UK beer industry, including figures on pub-going, consumer polling, and an extensive analysis of brewing businesses.
