Work out how much Alcohol Duty you need to pay
Find the full rates of duty and calculation examples that apply if you make, import or hold beer, cider, spirits, wine or other fermented products.
Products you pay Alcohol Duty on
You need to pay Alcohol Duty on products with an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 1.3% or more for any of the following:
- 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
The duty is due when the products are released for consumption in the UK.
How to calculate Alcohol Duty
Alcohol Duty is based on the amount of pure alcohol in a product.
To work out the amount of Alcohol Duty due on your product, you multiply the number of litres of pure alcohol that your product contains by the appropriate duty rate.
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Work out how many litres of finished product you have.
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Work out how many litres of pure alcohol you have.
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Check the duty rate table in this guidance to find out what the appropriate rate of duty is for your product, taking into account its ABV strength.
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Work out how much the Alcohol Duty is for your product — multiply the number of litres of pure alcohol in your product by the appropriate rate of duty.
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Work out how much Alcohol Duty you have to pay for your product by rounding down to the nearest penny.
If your product is wine with an ABV between 11.5% and 14.5%
Read the ‘temporary arrangement for wine’ section in this guidance before you start to work out how much Alcohol Duty you have to pay.
Rates of duty (per litre of pure alcohol) from 1 August 2023
Beer
| Alcohol by volume (ABV) | Amount of duty in £ (pounds) for each litre of pure alcohol in the product |
|---|---|
| 0 to 1.2% | 0.00 |
| 1.3% to 3.4% | 9.27 |
| 3.5% to 8.4% | 21.01 |
| 8.5% to 22% | 28.50 |
| Stronger than 22% | 31.64 |
Cider (but not sparkling cider)
| Alcohol by volume (ABV) | Amount of duty in £ (pounds) for each litre of pure alcohol in the product |
|---|---|
| 0 to 1.2% | 0.00 |
| 1.3% to 3.4% | 9.27 |
| 3.5% to 8.4% | 9.67 |
| 8.5% to 22% | 28.50 |
| Stronger than 22% | 31.64 |
Sparkling cider
| Alcohol by volume (ABV) | Amount of duty in £ (pounds) for each litre of pure alcohol in the product |
|---|---|
| 0 to 1.2% | 0.00 |
| 1.3% to 3.4% | 9.27 |
| 3.5% to 5.5% | 9.67 |
| 5.6% to 8.4% | 24.77 |
| 8.5% to 22% | 28.50 |
| Stronger than 22% | 31.64 |
Spirits or spirit based products
| Alcohol by volume (ABV) | Amount of duty in £ (pounds) for each litre of pure alcohol in the product |
|---|---|
| 0 to 1.2% | 0.00 |
| 1.3% to 3.4% | 9.27 |
| 3.5% to 8.4% | 24.77 |
| 8.5% to 22% | 28.50 |
| Stronger than 22% | 31.64 |
Wine (including sparkling wine)
| Alcohol by volume (ABV) | Amount of duty in £ (pounds) for each litre of pure alcohol in the product |
|---|---|
| 0 to 1.2% | 0.00 |
| 1.3% to 3.4% | 9.27 |
| 3.5% to 8.4% | 24.77 |
| 8.5% to 22% | 28.50 |
| Stronger than 22% | 31.64 |
Other fermented products like fruit ciders
| Alcohol by volume (ABV) | Amount of duty in £ (pounds) for each litre of pure alcohol in the product |
|---|---|
| 0 to 1.2% | 0.00 |
| 1.3% to 3.4% | 9.27 |
| 3.5% to 8.4% | 24.77 |
| 8.5% to 22% | 28.50 |
| Stronger than 22% | 31.64 |
Temporary arrangement for wine
If you need to pay duty on wine with an ABV of between 11.5% and 14.5%, there’s a temporary arrangement from 1 August 2023 up to and including 31 January 2025.
During these dates you must use an assumed strength of 12.5% when you work out the amount of Alcohol Duty for your wine. This does not change the rate of duty, but it may change the amount of duty you need to pay.
Check if you can pay less duty
You can check if you’re eligible:
Examples of working out the amount of Alcohol Duty you need to pay
Example of a straightforward calculation
You have 573 containers of beer.
Each container holds 7.5 litres of beer.
The ABV of your beer is 8.4%. This means the rate of duty is £21.01 for each litre of pure alcohol in your beer.
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Work out how many litres of beer you have.
573 x 7.5 = 4,297.5 litres of beer. -
Work out how many litres of pure alcohol you have.
4,297.5 litres x 8.4% (ABV) = 360.99 litres of pure alcohol. -
Work out how much the Alcohol Duty is for your beer.
360.99 x £21.01 (the rate of duty) = £7,584.3999. -
Work out how much Alcohol Duty you have to pay for your beer by rounding down.
£7,584.3999 rounded down to the nearest penny = £7,584.39.
Example of a calculation using the temporary arrangement for wine
You have 407 containers of wine.
Each container holds 3 litres of wine.
The ABV of your wine is 14%. Because it’s between 11.5% and 14.5%, you must use the assumed strength of 12.5%. This means the rate of duty is £28.50 for each litre of pure alcohol in your wine.
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Work out how many litres of wine you have.
407 x 3 = 1,221 litres of wine. -
Work out how many litres of pure alcohol you have.
1,221 litres x 12.5% (the ABV assumed strength) = 152.625 litres of pure alcohol. -
Work out how much the Alcohol Duty is for your wine.
152.625 x £28.50 (the rate of duty) = £4,349.8125. -
Work out how much Alcohol Duty you have to pay for your wine by rounding down.
£4,349.8125 rounded down to the nearest penny = £4,349.81.