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Whisky chiefs double their efforts in call for tax freeze on alcohol

Whisky chiefs   double their  efforts in call for  tax freeze on alcohol

The whisky industry’s campaign for a rethink of UK alcohol taxation steps up a gear today, with new figures highlighting that a threshold is about to be broken for Scotland’s national drink.

More than £4 of every £5 raised from sales of the spirit in the UK will go to the Treasury if planned tax rises go ahead, according to the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA).

A alcohol duty escalator already delivers 79% of the average price of a bottle of Scotch to the UK Government through tax and VAT.

This will soon rise to 81%, taking it over £4 of tax in every £5 spent, unless the automatic annual duty increase of inflation plus 2% is axed by Chancellor George Osborne in his Budget on Wednesday.

SWA’s Call Time on Duty campaign, backed by the Wine and Spirit Trade Association and Taxpayers’ Alliance, is seeking a tax freeze and an end to the escalator.

David Frost, the trade body’s chief executive, said: “We urge the chancellor to listen to that large majority of the population who believe the alcohol duty escalator is simply unfair to a major Scottish and British industry.

“People are still under financial pressure and scrapping the escalator and freezing duty would help ease some of that pain.

“An overhaul of the alcohol duty system would support not just the Scotch whisky industry but also the wider hospitality industry, which provides employment across the UK.”

More than three-quarters (76%) of Scots think whisky tax increases under the escalator are too high, according to poll of 2,000 UK adults by OnePoll.

In Scotland, 67% said the Treasury was taking too much and 86% said more should be done to help the hospitality industry.

Recent research by professional services firm EY found that the UK wine and spirits industry supported 475,000 jobs in 2012. Whisky production supports 35,000 jobs across the UK and contributes £135 a second to the UK’s trade balance.