DRINKERS will see the tax charged on their favourite tipple rise later this year.
Taxation of alcohol has been in chaos since September’s mini-Budget when short-lived Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a freeze on alcohol duty, only for Hunt to scrap it when he took over the Treasury in October.
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Distillers and brewers have been begging the Chancellor to extend the freeze as they face huge cash pressures.
But the Chancellor is expected to announce that alcohol duty will increase in line with inflation later today (March 15).
Here’s an explainer of when alcohol duty is set to rise.
We also provide a prediction on how much more your favourite tipple will cost after any hikes come into force.
When will alcohol duty go up in price?
Hated alcohol levies were due to be hiked on February 1, but Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delayed the move for an extra six months.
This means that alcohol duty prices will now rise on August 1.
A further change previously announced will see a simplification of the duty that could also add a further 9% added to some drinks from the same date.
How much will alcohol cost from August?
The Chancellor is expected to increase alcohol duty in line with inflation of around 10% in his Spring Budget this afternoon (March 15).
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The exact level of duty applied to each drink won’t be confirmed until later on.
But changes to the number of alcohol duty groups and an additional inflationary-fuelled rise could see the tax on some alcohol shoot up as much as 44% according to The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA).
A bottle of wine could go up by 44p, while duty on Port could rise by £1.29 a bottle.
But other alcoholic beverages could actually see their duty rates cut.
For example, duty on a bottle of sparkling wine could be slashed by 19p.
The duty on a bottle of cream liqueur like Bailey’s could also fall by 3p and 5p could be shaved off pre-mixed cans of G&T.
