ACS welcomes review on Alcohol Duty

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has welcomed a new call for evidence launched by the Treasury and HMRC on the alcohol duty system.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the Alcohol Duty Review in the 2020 Budget, which intends to improve and simplify the current system, as well as reducing administrative burdens on both businesses and HMRC.

The review is being undertaken following the UK’s exit from the European Union.

The call for evidence seeks views on a wide range of areas relating to alcohol taxation, including:

. Whether there should be distinctions made based on the ‘place of retail’

. Whether duty categories should be unified or changed

. Whether more could be done to tackle avoidance and evasion of duty

It is estimated that the current alcohol tax gap is £900 million in 2018-19, of which £600 million is alcohol duty and £300 million is VAT.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We welcome the Government’s efforts to date in tackling the sale of non-duty paid products and encourage them to continue focusing on this area. In the convenience sector alone, responsible retailers collect over £6.5 billion in excise duties, a significant proportion of which is from alcohol.

“We do not support a distinction in duty rates made based on place of retail, this would add multiple layers of complexity in a tax system that is in need of simplification.”

ACS will be submitting a response to the call for evidence, which closes in November.