Paid alcohol duty falls at fastest rate in 20 years

Alcohol tax receipts in the UK show the sharpest annual decline in 20 years during the 2022/23 financial year, new data has revealed.

Financial experts at tax and accounting firm Rift Tax Refunds found £12.4 billion (US$15.7bn) was paid to HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) in alcohol duty during the 2022/23 financial year.

This represents a 5.1% decrease from the £13.1bn (US$16.6bn) generated in alcohol duty during the 2021/22 financial year – the highest amount of alcohol duty paid in the last 20 years.

Bradley Post, managing director of Rift, said: “Smoking and drinking alcohol are two of the main vices that many of us look to abstain from in January as we look to start the new year on a positive note.

“However, it certainly seems as though more of us have chosen to do so over the last year, with tax receipts on both falling at their sharpest rate in 20 years, despite the duty charged having only increased, even with some adjustments and intermittent freezing.”

In the spring budget last year, UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced a duty rise of 10.1% for spirits from 1 August 2023, one of the largest tax hikes in recent decades. This was frozen during the autumn budget announcement until August 2024.

Earlier this week, a report from trade body the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) revealed Scotch whisky production, sales and distribution delivered £7.1bn (US$9bn) for the UK economy in 2022.

Of this, £5.3bn (US$6.7bn) was generated in Scotland.

The Scotch whisky industry supports 66,000 jobs across the UK, with 41,000 posts in Scotland.

Exports of Scotch whisky rose by 31% between 2018 and 2022 to a record £6.2bn (US$7.9bn). This accounted for 77% of total Scottish food and drink exports.

Scotch whisky is Scotland’s second most productive sector, and accounts for 3% of the nation’s total gross value added.