Section 10 — duty suspension
Find out about storing, holding or moving goods in duty suspension with an alcoholic products producer approval (APPA).
Duty suspension is the term used to refer to the storage, holding or movement of goods liable to excise duty without payment of duty. Alcoholic products can be stored and moved in duty suspension in an excise warehouse approved by HMRC or at approved premises (these are any premises in respect of which an approved person holds an alcoholic products producer approval (APPA)). Under the alcoholic products producer approval (APPA) you can be authorised to produce, hold and move alcoholic products in duty suspension. This may include alcoholic products produced elsewhere, including outside the UK, if you are authorised to do so under your alcoholic products producer approval (APPA). This means there is no longer a requirement for alcoholic product producers to operate an excise warehouse as they will be able to keep goods in duty suspense on their approved premises instead. This does not apply to importers or producers based overseas.
If an alcoholic products producer with an alcoholic products producer approval (APPA) wishes to hold an excise warehouse away from their approved premises or use a third-party excise warehouse, they can do. In this case existing warehousing obligations apply for the purposes of their excise warehouse.
The person holding or moving the alcoholic products in duty suspension will be responsible for the duty on them. If the alcoholic products cannot be accounted for to our satisfaction, that person will be liable to pay duty on them.
If you intend to store imported goods with customs and excise duties suspended, you will need to apply for a separate customs warehousing approval. See apply to operate a customs warehouse.
Alcoholic products held on approved premises leave duty suspension (pass the duty point), when any of these occur:
(a) when the product leaves approved premises unless it is delivered:
- to other approved premises
- to an excise warehouse
- for exportation
- for shipment as stores (read section 18 — removal of goods to HM Ships and as ship’s stores)
- to entitled diplomats (read section 19 — supplied to diplomats and visiting forces within the UK and to entitled organisations)
- to entitled members of visiting forces (read section 19 — supplied to diplomats and visiting forces within the UK and to entitled organisations)
(b) the alcoholic product is received by approved premises not entitled on their approval to hold alcoholic products in duty suspense
(c) the alcoholic products are constructively removed
(d) the alcoholic product is consumed
(e) the alcoholic product is lost
(f) the alcoholic product is irregularly diverted
(g) you’re no longer approved as a producer
(h) the premises on which you’re holding the product ceases to be approved, or
(i) the alcoholic product is produced, and you’re not authorised to hold the product in duty suspense
For goods stored in an excise warehouse, read section 10 of receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse (Excise Notice 197) for further information.
The following requirements have the force of law and are made under regulation 6 of the Revenue Traders (Accounts and Records) Regulations 1992.
You must keep an up-to-date stock record of all alcoholic product held in duty suspension showing the quantity, strength and description of the product, in relation to these:
- alcoholic product produced on your premises
- alcoholic product received from other approved premises, from importation or authorised warehouses
- alcoholic product delivered from your approved premises on payment of duty
- alcoholic product delivered from your approved premises duty suspended, including exports, shipment as stores, deliveries to entitled diplomats and entitled members of visiting forces
- alcoholic product appropriated for consumption on your approved premises
- alcoholic product removed for sampling purposes
- alcoholic product removed for reprocessing
- alcoholic product removed for destruction
- alcoholic product constructively removed
- alcoholic product lost or accidentally destroyed
Receipts of stock must include goods received from your own production and should be cross-referenced to goods received records. Deliveries from stock should be crossed referenced to goods dispatched records.
If you hold duty suspended alcoholic products on approved premises, you will need to tell us how much alcoholic product has been removed in duty suspense and received in duty suspense in your Alcohol Duty return. We need to know the total volume and the total in litres of pure alcohol. To calculate this amount add together:
- quantity exported outside the UK
- quantity delivered duty suspended to other UK approved premises and excise warehouses
Then subtract:
- quantity received under duty suspense from approved premises, excise warehouses and importation
This figure is the difference between duty suspended alcohol sent out by the producer and duty suspended alcohol received by a producer in a month. Your figure of total duty suspended alcohol (difference between duty suspended sent out and received by the producer) will not change your duty calculation.
For further information about the Alcohol Duty return, read section 5 — returns and payments.
For further information on removals of duty suspended products held in an excise warehouse, read receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse (Excise Notice 197).
If authorised, under your alcoholic products producer approval (APPA), you can move alcoholic products in duty suspension in these circumstances:
- between your approved premises and other approved premises or excise warehouses —this includes movements between your own approved premises if you own a multi-site operation
- from your approved premises for exportation
You can also receive alcoholic products in duty suspension, provided that you’re authorised to hold products in duty suspension produced elsewhere:
- from other approved producers
- from an excise warehouse to your approved premises
- direct from importation to your approved premises — as specified at 10.1, you will require customs warehouse approval
At approved premises, if you are authorised, you may also receive and store in duty suspense, wash and feedstock from other approved premises.
Please note this policy is currently being reviewed by HMRC and existing obligations apply. If you send duty suspended alcoholic products to an excise warehouse (approved under section 92 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979) for bottling, packaging or storage, you’ll need to be approved as a registered owner of warehoused goods under the Warehouse keepers and Owners of Warehoused Goods Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/1278).
You must make sure that you’re sending the goods to an approved producer, excise warehouse, registered consignee (for dispatches from NI to a member state of the EU only) or temporary registered consignee (for dispatches from NI to a member state of the EU only) which is approved or authorised to receive and store the alcoholic products in duty suspension. Read section 12 of receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse (Excise Notice 197) for further information.
You will not be able to use your alcoholic products producer approval (APPA) ID on Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS) to record duty suspended movements of goods.
Prior to 1 February 2025, if you were registered or licensed to produce alcoholic products, these separate registrations and licenses will be migrated to a single new alcoholic products producer approval (APPA). If your alcoholic products producer approval (APPA) authorises you to hold alcoholic products in duty suspension, you may choose to relinquish any formal excise warehouse approvals you additionally hold. For the purposes of EMCS you will retain any existing warehouse keeper, warehouse and premises IDs and will use these in EMCS in the same way as before, for recording duty suspended movements of alcoholic products.
Alcoholic product producers approved on and after 1 February 2025 will be provided with relevant operational ID numbers to use in EMCS to record duty suspended movements of goods, alongside an alcoholic products producer approval (APPA) ID.
If you have an alcoholic products producer approval (APPA), all intra-UK movements of alcoholic products will need to be submitted through EMCS, unless they qualify for simplified procedure. For more information on EMCS procedures, read section 2 of receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse (Excise Notice 197)..
If the movements of the alcoholic products are under simplified procedures, alternative documents will be suitable if they contain:
- a unique reference number
- your name and address
- the name and address of the consignee
- the destination address
- a statement that the alcoholic product is in duty suspension
- a description of the alcoholic product (that is, product name), the quantity, strength and package size and date of dispatch from your approved premises
If you have been paid or expect to be paid in cash for the supply of alcoholic products in duty suspension (or for any service you provide in relation to the products in duty suspension) read 10.16 on cash transactions in this section of the technical guide.
Simplified procedures apply to certain UK movements and allows for alcoholic products to be moved under duty suspension using alternative documents instead of EMCS.
These procedures are limited to alcoholic products moving between UK approved production premises or, excise warehouses approved to receive and store the alcoholic products. Ownership of the alcoholic products must remain with the producer during the course of the movement.
If the movements do not meet the criteria, it will be necessary to use EMCS.
You must keep records of every incoming and outgoing consignment of alcoholic product that you hold in duty suspension on approved premises. These records must be separate from any records of deliveries that are not held without payment of duty.
The records must include:
- the name and address of the person who received the alcoholic product
- the name and address of the person who delivered the alcoholic product
- a record of production of the alcoholic product, if the amount of alcohol in the product is relevant to determine the duty charged on the product
- the place the alcoholic product was received or delivered from
- the date of receipt or delivery
If the alcoholic product is contained in bottles or cans, you must record:
- the total number of bottles or cans that contain the alcoholic product
- the number of each type of bottle or can that contains the alcoholic product
- the total quantity in litres of alcoholic product in each type of bottle or can
- the name of the alcoholic product in each type of bottle or can
- the strength of the alcoholic product in each type of bottle or can
If the alcoholic product is not contained in bottles or cans (e.g. casks, kegs etc), you must record:
- the total number of containers that contains the alcoholic product
- the number of each container that contains the alcoholic product
- the capacity in litres of each container that contains the alcoholic product
- the quantity in litres of alcoholic product in each container
- the name of the alcoholic product in each container
- the strength of the alcoholic product in each container
Record keeping requirements for the movement of duty suspended goods held on excise warehouses are covered in receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse (Excise Notice 197).
If the movement is submitted through EMCS, the consignee must complete a report of receipt.
If under simplified procedures, the consignee or a person properly authorised to act on behalf of the consignee must sign the receipt. The receipt must contain:
- a unique reference number
- your name and address
- the name and address of the consignee
- the destination address
- the date of receipt
- a statement that the alcoholic product is in duty suspension
- a description of the alcoholic product (that is, product name), the quantity, strength and package size and date of dispatch from your approved premises
Personnel authorised by the approved person must sign the receipt. In addition, the signatory’s printed name together with the date of signature must appear on each receipt.
The consignee must issue a receipt within 5 days of the date of receipt of the alcoholic product in their approved or authorised premises. If you do not receive a receipt, you should contact the consignee. If it appears that the receipt has not been sent or been lost in transit, ask for a duplicate. Any such replacement should be clearly marked. If you have not obtained a satisfactory receipt for the alcoholic products within 4 months of its dispatch, you must pay the appropriate amount of duty on your next return. If you subsequently receive a receipt, you can credit your duty account with the appropriate amount of duty.
Any difficulty in obtaining receipts within the appropriate time limit, should be referred to excise and gambling duties enquiries. If no receipt is received, but at a later date you’re able to provide alternative evidence of receipt, you will be able to produce this when our officer next visits you. If the alternative evidence is accepted, the officer will authorise a duty credit. Our officer will contact or visit consignees who fail to issue the necessary receipts.
Failure to issue receipts can result in the issue of civil penalties.
If you do not hold a valid certificate of receipt for any alcoholic product you’ve sent out in duty suspension, you will be jointly and severally liable to pay the duty with the person who held the alcoholic product at the duty point.
If your receipt shows a discrepancy
If the receipt from the consignee shows a discrepancy, such as the alcoholic products received differs from those shown on the document accompanying the products, you should investigate the discrepancy, record the reason and adjust your records as necessary.
You must issue a receipt only for the alcoholic products that you actually receive. If the movement of products is under simplified procedures and the copy of the delivery note is being used as a certificate of receipt, you must mark it clearly to show the discrepancy and inform the consignor.
If the movement is submitted through EMCS and, any check of the alcoholic products to the electronic administrative document shows excess shortage or loss, then an inventory of this should be included in the report of receipt to the consignor.
For details of procedures under EMCS, read receive goods into and remove goods from an excise warehouse (Excise Notice 197).
Duty must be brought to account on any loss where there is no acceptable explanation.
You should inform us if alcoholic products moving under duty suspension is accidentally destroyed, for example in a road accident. Any significant losses should be notified to excise and gambling duties enquiries without delay.
Provided that we are satisfied that the alcoholic products have not been or will not be consumed, duty will not be payable.
It is important that you retain any information relating to the incident for our inspection.
Destruction of duty suspended alcoholic products
We can grant permission to destroy duty suspended alcoholic products without paying if the goods are either:
- spoilt
- unfit for use meaning faulty manufacture, deterioration and contamination
The following requirements have force of law and are made under section 81 of Finance (No.2) Act 2023.
You can destroy duty suspended alcoholic products as long as you:
- give us at least 2 working days’ notice if you want to destroy the products at your approved premises
- give us at least 5 working days’ notice if you want to destroy the products outside of your approved premises
- give us details of the proposed method of destruction
- satisfy us that your proposed process will destroy the intrinsic nature of the alcoholic product
Working days excludes Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.
The following requirements have force of law and are made under section 81 of Finance (No.2) Act 2023.
You must write to excise and gambling duties enquiries and provide details of these:
- why you want to destroy the goods
- details of the goods
- the amount of duty involved
- the strength of the spoilt products
- where and when the proposed destruction will take place
- method of destruction
Conditions for duty suspended alcoholic products destroyed away from approved premises
If the alcoholic products are removed from approved premises to be destroyed at a specialist destruction site, these conditions apply.
This condition has the force of law and is made under section 81 of Finance (No.2) Act 2023:
There must be a complete audit trail which confirms that the alcoholic products have been destroyed.
If you have sent duty suspended alcoholic products to a third party, as the alcoholic products have not passed a duty point, you can receive them back to your approved premises on the original delivery documentation.
Duty suspended alcoholic products must always be moved in accordance with the detailed procedures laid down in this guide. The products must be subject to the normal requirements of measurement of volume and strength. Proper documentation must travel with the alcoholic products and proper receipts must be obtained.
You may need to provide security for the duty as explained in section 8 — financial security.
You can hold duty paid alcoholic product on your approved premises, in addition to alcoholic product which you’ve constructively removed, but only if we are satisfied that you can clearly identify duty paid and duty suspended alcoholic product in your records.
You will not normally have to pay duty on samples taken for testing for production or quality control purposes from duty suspended alcoholic products held on approved premises. For further information, read section 16 — duty on samples.
As an approved alcoholic products producer, you’re required to notify us if you’ve been paid, or expect to be paid, in cash for the supply of duty suspended alcoholic products exceeding £9,000. You must complete form W7 or contact excise and gambling duties enquiries.
You must send the completed form to the email address shown on the form W7.
If you’re paid, or expect to be paid, in 2 or more instalments, which individually are below the £9,000 notification threshold but in total will exceed this amount, you must also notify us on form W7 when the first cash payment is received.
Provided you have notified the transaction to us, you do not need to wait for us to respond to receipt of the form W7 before removing duty suspended alcoholic products to other approved premises or excise warehouses.
You are also required to notify us of any cash payments received (exceeding £9,000) for any service you provide relating to duty suspended alcoholic product, for example, storage facilities, handling charges, packaging of alcoholic products or use of an excise movement guarantee.