News

Confusion on draught beer duty rules ahead of change

24 July 2023 By James Evison

Beer festival organisers are facing confusion about the new draught beer duty legislation due to come into force next month, which impacts on takeaway containers.

The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has contacted the organisers of beer festivals, informing them that either bottled or canned beer and cider can still be sold as a takeaway product. But it has advised against draught sales being offered for takeaway, in order to meet with new legislation.

In an email to organisers, CAMRA said that the new duty system, which is due to come into force on 1 August, and will apply a lower draught duty rate effectively bans sales from draught duty-paid containers for consumption off the premises, which includes those bought from beer festivals.

It said: “We are instructing all CAMRA festivals to stop making any take-away draught sales from 1st August, 2023 (regardless of whether the draught container has had the general or draught duty rate paid on it) as this is the simplest way to ensure compliance with the new legislation and avoid having to implement extra checks and processes on site.”

CAMRA said that its events committee will review the situation in September 2023, but one festival organiser in Suffolk, told the local newspaper that he feared throwing away as many as 1,440 pints, which would normally be takeaway ale sales.

Martin Bate, who organises the annual East Anglian Beer and Cider festival, said that he hoped by paying the additional duty on each cask – around £2 per cask – that he could still sell the takeaway ale.

Duty changes

The news comes ahead of an overhaul of the current duty system on alcohol, which is set for 1 August 2023, and which will see all alcoholic drinks taxed based on their alcohol by volume (ABV), meaning that beverages with a higher alcoholic percentage will be subject to higher rates.

This replaces the current Alcohol Duty system, which consists of four separate taxes covering beer, cider, spirits, wine and made-wine.

The reform was first proposed by Rishi Sunak in 2021 during his time as Chancellor, and has been met with continuous backlash from industry bodies and professionals who claim the new system treats wine and spirits unfairly.

After freezes on alcohol duty were implemented last year, the deadline for the reform to come into play is just weeks away, despite recent pleas from the trade that it is “not too late to scrap these crippling duty hikes”.

So what will the new system look like?

The new system will create six standardised alcohol duty bands across all types of alcoholic products and apply to all individuals and businesses involved in the manufacture, distribution, holding and sale of alcoholic products across the UK.