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<p>The Government has made no independent assessment of the contribution of wine and
spirits to the UK economy. However, HM Treasury engages with a wide variety of organisations,
including the Wine and Spirits Trade Association, to understand developments in the
wine and spirits markets.</p><p> </p><p>Current and historic duty rates for wine and
spirits can be found in HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) published Alcohol Bulletin.
This is available to view at: <a href="https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx"
target="_blank">https://www.uktradeinfo.com/Statistics/Pages/TaxAndDutybulletins.aspx</a>.</p><p>
</p><p>The Government keeps all taxes, including wine and spirits duties, under review.
Evidence from stakeholders on the impact of potential changes will be considered as
part of the Budget process. An indication of the fiscal effect of a one per cent increase
in duty in 2017-18 on all alcoholic drinks is set out in the HMRC publication, <em>Direct
effects of illustrative tax changes</em>. This is available to view at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571367/Nov16_Direct_effects_illustrative_tax_changes_bulletin_final.pdf"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/571367/Nov16_Direct_effects_illustrative_tax_changes_bulletin_final.pdf</a>.
For small changes in duty, the one per cent ‘ready reckoner’ can be scaled up or down
to derive a rough estimate of larger changes.</p><p> </p><p>The legal incidence of
the duty is on producers, but increased duties are passed through as higher retail
prices. Higher duties are thus estimated to reduce alcohol consumption.</p><p> </p>
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