Pub chiefs claim Brits pay 14 times more tax on a pint of beer than the Germans
Campaigners urge the Chancellor to freeze duty in next month's Budget
PUB chiefs claimed Brits pay 14 times more tax on a pint of beer than the Germans — and urged the Chancellor to freeze duty.
They fear a clobbering in next month’s Budget, while whisky duty could be frozen in a bid to please new Scottish Tory MPs.
Research shows beer duty has soared by 39 per cent in the last ten years — with 52p a pint going to the Treasury.
Tory MP Nigel Evans said it was time to cut the “hated beer tax” and warned of higher prices, loss of pubs and loss of jobs.
Brigid Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association, added: “The tax on beer in Britain is already an astonishing three times the EU average — yet further tax hikes are planned.
“This hits jobs, pubs, and pubgoers. A pint in the pub must not become an unaffordable luxury, so it’s time for a rethink.”
A Treasury spokeswoman said pubs can benefit from new business rates relief as well as changes to alcohol duty.
But on freezing whisky duty next month, she added: “We do not speculate on tax changes ahead of fiscal events.”