Written question asked by Paul Farrelly (Labour) on Monday, 2 September 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 4 September 2019. It was answered by Simon Clarke (Conservative) on Monday, 9 September 2019 on behalf of the Treasury.

Beer: Excise Duties

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to bring UK beer duty in line with other EU countries.

Answer

The Government supports consumers, pubs and breweries. To this end, the Government has frozen or cut beer duty at six of the last seven Budgets. This has meant a pint of beer is 14p lower than it otherwise would have been since 2013.

However, beer duty raises vital revenue to fund public services, and in order to protect the public finances, an RPI increase in duty rates is assumed in the public finances for all alcoholic drinks at Budget 2019. All taxes are kept under review and the impact of a change to beer duty is considered at each fiscal event, including its effect on pubs and the wider economy.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 284982
Session: 2017-19
Subjects: Beer EU countries Excise duties
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Beer: Excise Duties

Secondary information

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