Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2025 to question 82442 on Alcoholic Drinks: Excise Duties, when HMRC will begin the evaluation of the new rates and structures.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson
In March 2023, the previous government published its response to the new alcohol duty system consultation which ran from October 2021 to January 2022. Within that response was a commitment to evaluate the impacts of the new rates and structures three years after the changes take effect on 1 August 2023.
The previous government’s response can be found here: The new alcohol duty system: final consultation response
HMRC and HM Treasury began to monitor the impacts of the new rates and structure before the changes were introduced on 1 August 2023. The timeframes committed to should be an appropriate amount of time to gather useful and accurate data that could be used to understand the impacts in the alcohol market.
Plans are being formulated within HMRC for discussions with business via their trade associations as part of the evaluation work. In the meantime, the government always welcomes written feedback direct from parliamentarians and their constituents.
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