EXCISE DUTIES AND INDIRECT TAXES
Excise Duty
Budget 2017 increased excise duty on a pack of cigarettes increased by 50c with a pro-rata increase on other tobacco products.
There were no changes to excise duty on alcohol or fuel.
There were no changes to excise duty on alcohol or fuel.
Sugar Tax
Budget 2017 announces a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks to be introduced in April 2018 following a consultation process.
Microbreweries' Reduced Rate
Budget 2017 extended the relief from alcohol product tax on beer produced in microbreweries to apply to microbreweries which produce not more than 40,000 hectolitres per year. Previously, the maximum quantity of beer on which relief was allowed for any qualifying brewery in any calendar year was 30,000 hectolitres.
The relief - 50% of alcohol products tax on beer, applied by means of repayment or remission - is available for beer produced in qualifying microbreweries located within the European Union. The relief applies to tax payable at the rate applicable to beer exceeding 2.8% alcohol by volume.
To qualify for the relief the brewery must be:
The relief - 50% of alcohol products tax on beer, applied by means of repayment or remission - is available for beer produced in qualifying microbreweries located within the European Union. The relief applies to tax payable at the rate applicable to beer exceeding 2.8% alcohol by volume.
To qualify for the relief the brewery must be:
- located in the European Union;
- legally and economically independent (within the meaning of Section 78A of the Finance Act 2003) of any other brewery;
- situated physically apart from any other brewery;
- and in the calendar year previous to the year in which the relief is eligible to be claimed:
- the quantity of beer brewed in the brewery, including beer brewed for export, for home consumption and under licence, or contract arrangement for another brewery, must not have exceeded 40,000 hectolitres (per Budget 2017), and
- the quantity of beer brewed in the brewery under a licence, franchise, or contract arrangement for another brewery must have been less than 50% of the brewery’s total production.