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Alcohol Duty from 1 August 2023

Find out about the changes to Alcohol Duty, including the rates of duty and the new reliefs for draught products and small producers.

The changes to the Alcohol Duty structure and the new reliefs took effect today, 1 August 2023. These include:

• A new, simpler Alcohol Duty system: standardised Alcohol Duty bands for all types of alcoholic products. There are new duty rates based on alcohol by volume (ABV) for all products
• A Small Producer Relief: which reforms and extends the relief previously enjoyed by small breweries, to producers of all alcoholic products under 8.5% ABV
• A reduced rate for draught products: also known as Draught Relief, which reduces the tax due on draught alcoholic products under 8.5% ABV, packaged in containers of at least 20 litres, and designed to connect to a qualifying dispense system
• Transitional arrangements for producers and importers of some wine products: to help them with moving to the new method of working out the duty on their products. This allows businesses to use an ‘assumed strength’ of 12.5% ABV, when working out the duty for wines with an ABV between 11.5% and 4.5% ABV. This measure is in place for 18 months, from 1 August 2023 until 1 February 2025.

Make sure you understand what has changed by reading the guidance in English or in Welsh, and by listening to webinars.

If you are a small producer of alcoholic products, you can also use the Small Producer Relief calculator to help you work out how much duty you need to pay.

For more news, click here.