Britain’s boozers boost Treasury coffers
Britain’s wine and spirits industry raised billions of pounds in revenue for the Treasury last year, as booze sales reached a record high.
According to new figures from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), wine and spirits tax contributed £15.5bn to the Treasury in 2015.
And 2016 looks set to be another good year for off-licences, with wine duty alone hitting a record £4bn in the 12 month rolling total to September.
Sales of spirits were boosted by a freeze on duty tax six months earlier, with sales reaching £1.48bn for the six months to September, up £54m on the same period last year.
The WSTA has now called on the government to increase investment in the drinks industries, as a way of combating post-Brexit uncertainty.
"Evidence shows that freezing or cuts to duty are not only popular, but have led to greater revenue for the Exchequer, more jobs, greater investment by the industry and a better deal for consumers,” said the chief executive of the WSTA. “The industry’s size and contribution to economic activity is regularly vastly underestimated.
“The industry has faced difficult trading conditions recently with the fall of the pound and the uncertainty of trade post-Brexit. Now more than ever the industry asks for government's support to allow the wine and spirit industry to invest, grow exports and create more jobs. And these figures show that reducing the wine and spirit industry’s high duty burden is an effective way to do that.”
Since a freeze in wine duty was announced in the 2015 budget, wine duty income increased by £139m (+3.6 per cent) year on year, while income from spirits duty increased by £125m (+4.1 per cent).
Almost three quarters (74 per cent) of each bottle of spirits and 55 per cent of each bottle of wine sold in a shop or supermarket is accounted for by tax.