No changes to spirits duty in Autumn Statement

The new UK chancellor Philip Hammond has not announced any duty changes to the spirits, wine and beer sectors in his Autumn Statement – which itself has now been scrapped.

In his first such budgetary address as chancellor, Hammond announced that fuel duty would be frozen, but neglected to announce any changes to alcohol and tobacco duties.

As such, duties across all alcoholic drinks categories are expected to remain the same.

In March this year, previous chancellor George Osborne announced a free on spirits duty in the 2016 Budget. Duty on beer and cider was also frozen, but wine duty went up with inflation.

In 2015, Osborne cut spirits duty by 2% – the first such reduction for the industry in 20 years.

Earlier this month, trade body the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) reported that six months after the 2016 duty freeze, the spirits industry added £1.48 billion to the UK economy.

Yesterday, Hammond also said he would abolish the Autumn Statement, since “no other major economy makes hundreds of tax changes twice a year and neither should we”.

As such, next year’s Spring Budget will be the final Spring Budget and starting from autumn 2017, the UK will have an Autumn Budget, announcing tax changes to be made at the start of the fiscal year.

A Spring Statement will be implemented in 2018, but this will not be a “major fiscal event”, instead responding to the forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility.