Check if you can pay less Alcohol Duty on draught products
If you trade in draught products, find out if you could pay a reduced rate of Alcohol Duty.
Who can get the reduced rate
You may be able to pay a reduced rate of Alcohol Duty on those products that are less than 8.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) if you’re:
- a producer
- an excise warehousekeeper
- an importer
Eligible products
You may be able to get the reduced rate if you make:
- beer
- cider, including perry
- spirits, including spirit based ready-to-drink (RTD) products
- wine, including sparkling and fortified wines
- other fermented products (previously called made-wine) like fruit ciders
Your products must have an alcoholic strength of less than 8.5% ABV.
At the duty point they must also either be:
- packaged in eligible draught containers
- going to be transported to a place in the UK to be transferred into eligible draught containers
Draught containers you can pay the reduced rate on
Your container must be able to hold 20 litres or more of product and be able to connect to either a:
- pump system
- gas pressurised drinks tap
If your container does not meet these conditions, you’ll need to pay the full rate of Alcohol Duty.
If the product in your draught container is used for takeaway sales
The default position for products in draught containers is that the draught rates should be paid.
If you’re asked for eligible draught products paid at the full rate of duty (for example, for off-premises sales like takeaway beer), you should declare this on your duty return.
If you need to declare the difference between the draught rate already paid, and the full rate of duty, you should use the ‘underdeclaration’ box on your duty return.
You must give your customer evidence that the full rate of duty has been paid when you supply these products.
You can use any appropriate evidence, like a statement on commercial documentation or a letter of confirmation. It must be:
- clear that the full rate of duty has been paid
- passed along the supply chain
If you repackage draught drinks
Repackaging draught products means transferring them to other non-draught containers. For example, decanting from a keg into bottles.
Serving a drink from a draught container for consumption on your premises does not count as repackaging. For example, serving it in a glass at a bar.
You can only repackage draught drinks if:
- you’re an approved producer or excise warehousekeeper, or both
- duty has been paid at the full rate on the products (like for takeaway sales)
If you do not have approval or the full duty rate has not been paid, you may have to pay a penalty.
If you’re an approved producer or excise warehousekeeper
If you repackage products from draught containers into other containers, they will no longer qualify for the reduced rate.
You’ll need to pay the difference on your duty return. You should declare this as an ‘underdeclaration in previous period’. The amount you should declare is the difference between the draught rate already paid and the full rate that applied at the time.
Duty rates for draught products
The reduced rate that you can get depends on the type and strength of the alcoholic product you make.
| Draught product | Amount of duty in £ (pounds) you’ll pay for every litre of pure alcohol in the product |
|---|---|
| All products less than 3.5% | 8.42 |
| Still cider 3.5% to less than 8.5% | 8.78 |
| Sparkling cider 3.5% to 5.5% | 8.78 |
| Sparkling cider over 5.5% | 19.08 |
| Beer, spirits, wine and other fermented products 3.5% to less than 8.5% | 19.08 |
Updates to this page
Published 29 June 2023Last updated 25 August 2023 + show all updates
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Guidance has been added about evidence you need to pass along the supply chain for takeaway sales. Information also added about how to pay the difference between the draught and full rate of duty and what counts as repackaging for draught products.
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Added translation