Tim Loughton – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Loughton on 2016-01-13.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will support the UK’s wine and spirit industry with further duty cuts in 2016.

Damian Hinds

The government continues to keep all taxes under review and decisions on tax policy are made by the Chancellor as part of the Budget process. Any changes to alcohol duties would need to take account of a wide range of factors, including the Exchequer impact, the impact on businesses, public health and the distributional impact of reform.

The government is committed to supporting the UK wine andspirits industry. The duty onspirits was cut by 2% at March Budget 2015, building on the duty freeze at Budget 2014. The duty on wines below 22% abv has been frozen since March Budget 2015.