Duty revenues lowest for 10 years

Despite claims the drinks industry is being used as a cash cow by the Treasury, revenue from alcohol duty is at its lowest level for a decade.

Official government figures show that in 2007-08, Revenue & Customs collected just under £7.9 billion from drinks duty – an identical figure to that for 1997-98, after inflation is deducted.


That compares to the decade’s high-water figure of £9.1 billion in 2004-05, according to Angela Eagle, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, who was responding to a question in the Commons this week posed by Conservative MP Jeremy Hunt.


Alcohol duty’s relative contribution to Revenue & Customs coffers is now marginally lower than at any time in the past five years, according to the data. I

It contributed 1.8% of HMRC revenues in 2007-08, a figure which has gradually fallen from 2.2% in 2003-04. The current figure is expected to see modest growth in the next two years, Eagle said.

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