After today’s alcohol duty freeze, I could celebrate with a £5 bottle of merlot... but I won’t
The IndependentChancellor Jeremy Hunt may have put a temporary halt on any rise in alcohol duty today, but don’t crack open the bubbly to celebrate just yet. In the 13 years that I worked in independent wine retail, the price point that customers most regularly asked for didn’t change much – but unfortunately, the cost of wine has. We definitely shouldn’t be toasting this freeze – the UK currently pays some of the highest tax in Europe on wine and spirits – and thanks to our chancellor we have an even more complicated sliding scale of taxation according to the alcohol by volume. Fifty per cent of an £8 bottle of wine is already made up of tax, so we shouldn’t be celebrating this freeze. Get closer to £12-£15 for a bottle of wine, and you’re already getting a lot more wine for your money – and trust me, you really can taste the difference.
History of this topic
Labour should raise price of a pint, says one of its backbenchers
The Independent
Budget 2024: Furious pub owners accuse Labour of doing 'nothing to help' struggling boozers - as Jeremy Clarkson weighs in and punters ridicule penny off pint
Daily Mail
Please, Rachel Reeves – the last thing we need is yet another wine tax
The Independent
Brexit wine tax sparks call for consumers to pressure MPs
The Independent
Chancellor Rachel Reeves considering raising alcohol duty in Budget, reports say
The Independent
Is a new alcohol prohibition on its way?
The Independent
Industry welcomes alcohol duty freeze as ‘a huge relief’
The Independent
PM insists alcohol duty changes will benefit businesses despite tax hikes
The Independent
Consumers to see ‘biggest single alcohol duty increase in almost 50 years’
The Independent
Budget beer duty: Alcohol tax frozen as part of Jeremy Hunt’s ‘Brexit pubs guarantee’
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