Members of Wine Drinkers UK (WDUK), a campaign group of wine makers, sellers and drinkers “tired of being unfairly taxed”, have submitted an Open Letter to the Chancellor urging him to help the wine sector and hospitality businesses it supports.
Wine is more heavily taxed than beer and spirits which have seen successive duty freezes while wine duty has not had cut since 1984.
The Open Letter reflects WDUK’s Budget submission made last month and calls on the Government to:
- Cut excise duty on wine
- Extend the temporary hospitality VAT tax introduced last year until March 2022
- And expand this to include sales of alcoholic drinks in the upcoming Budget
With more women drinking wine than men, a cut in wine duty is the most effective way of remedying this unfairness. A lower tax regime would also help many businesses survive the continued economic impact of Covid-19, to grow in the future, and to contribute to the local economy.
The Letter can be seen here: Open letter to the Chancellor-converted
