LABOUR’S tax hikes are costing the Treasury more than £100 million a year in lost alcohol duty.
Official figures show receipts from spirits alone have slumped by £102 million compared with last year, as distillers warn they are being taxed to the brink.
The shortfall comes as wider industry data suggests total alcohol duty income in 2025/26 will be £1.1 billion below forecasts made by the Office for Budget Responsibility in November 2023.
Spirits duty has surged by more than 17 per cent in recent years, following a 10.1 per cent rise under the Conservatives and two further increases since Labour took office.
Revenue from the likes of gin and whisky in 2025/26 is now expected to be a staggering £1.1 billion lower than originally forecast.
In November 2023, spirits revenue was projected to reach £5.1bn in 2025/26 – but takings will barely hit £4bn this fiscal year.
Carolyn Harris MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for UK Spirits, said: “Our spirits sector cannot survive if we continue to tax it into oblivion.
“This is a sector that has so much potential to deliver the growth that this country desperately needs.
“The latest figures are very clear.
“By hiking excise duty the Treasury is in fact losing money.
“It’s time to change approach, support distillers and the pubs and bars that depend on them and create jobs and opportunity around the country – which in turn will deliver more benefit for the Exchequer.”
Rupert Duke, UK Spirits Alliance Spokesperson, and Director of G&I Spirits Group, added: “After consecutive duty hikes totalling 17 per cent, distillers across the country are barely hanging on.
“Our international competitors are watching British spirits become less competitive with every day that passes.
“It’s time the Treasury went back to the drawing board and found a way to raise revenue and help businesses like ours”.
