New UK Alcohol Duty regime from August 2023

As members may be aware, a new regime for Alcohol Duty in the United Kingdom begins on 1st August 2023, here is how Duty is going to be calculated:

GIN (MUST BE 37.5% ABV
OR HIGHER)

All spirits with an ABV exceeding 22% will have a duty rate of £31.64 per litre of Alcohol (pla) and the tax code on the W5 form of 345

EXAMPLE ENTRY ON W5 Form:
Producer has made 1750 70CL bottles at 40% ABV
(1,225L at ABV of 40%) = 490 Litres of pure alcohol x  £31.64  per litre = £15,503.60 EXCISE DUTY

 

SLOE GINS WITH
ABV OVER 25%

Sloe Gins, which must have an ABV of higher than 25%, like this one from Sipsmith will have a duty rate the same as gin of £31.64 per litre of Alcohol (pla) and the tax code on the W5 form of 345

EXAMPLE ENTRY ON W5 Form:
Producer has made 1000 of their 70 CL bottles at 29% ABV
(700L at ABV of 29%) = 203 Litres of pure alcohol x £31.64 per litre = £6422.92 EXCISE DUTY

 

SOME GIN LIQUEURS
WITH ABV UNDER 22%

Spirits with an ABV of at least 8.5% and not exceeding 22% will have a duty rate of £28.50 pla and the tax code on the W5 form of 335

EXAMPLE ENTRY ON W5 Form:
Producer has made 450 of their 70 CL bottles at 20% ABV
(450L at ABV of 20%) = 90 Litres of pure alcohol x £28.50 per litre = £2565.00 EXCISE DUTY

 

CANNED RTDs
WITH ABV BETWEEN
3.5% – 8.5%

Spirits with an ABV of at least 3.5% and not exceeding 8.5%, including for example, Bombay Sapphire’s Gin & Tonic RTD, will have a duty rate of £24.77 pla and the tax code on the W5 form of 325

EXAMPLE ENTRY ON W5 Form:
Producer has made 4500 of their 330ml cans at 6.5% ABV
(1485L at ABV of 6.5%) = 96.55 Litres of pure alcohol x £24.77 per litre = £2390.92 EXCISE DUTY

 

RTDS WHICH HAVE
AN ABV ABOVE 1.2% AND
LESS THAN 3.5%

Spirits with an ABV of less than 3.5% will have a duty rate of £9.27 pla and the tax code on the W5 form of 315

EXAMPLE ENTRY ON W5 Form:
Producer has made 3500 of their 330ml cans at 2.5% ABV
(1155L at ABV of 2.5%) = 28.875 Litres of pure alcohol x £9.27 per litre = £267.67 EXCISE DUTY

RTDs WHICH HAVE
AN ABV BETWEEN
0% and 1.2% 

Spirit drinks with an alcohol level of 1.2% or below do not incur excise duty.

 

Sample Excise duty submission for UK producers

 

You can see now one of the reasons why calling the new excise regime a simplification was not quite correct and there is more complication as some members may be able to apply for Small Producer Relief if they make spirit drinks of less than 8.5% ABV and in total produce less than 45,000 LPA in a year of all their alcoholic products.

Use the Small Producer Relief checker to check your eligibility now.

CHECK SPR ELIGIBILITY NOW

 

Final note from us: All products described as Gin MUST be over 37.5% Alcohol by volume, properly labelled Gin Liqueurs though can be lower in strength of course.