Chancellor Rishi Sunak said his sweeping reforms to the “outdated, complex and full of historical animalities” alcohol duties would make the system “simpler, fairer and healthier”.

There are those who disagree. Distillers and wine makers argued that beer and cider continued to be taxed more favourably than their products, and that the higher duty rate on spirits and sparkling wine unduly penalised both industries.

On the craft brewing side, they see the changes favouring the big players since the draft relief policy only applies to beer sold in 40 litre kegs and not 20 and 30 litre kegs that craft brewers prefer selling in.

Describing it as “a more rational system”, all alcoholic drinks will be taxed in line with their alcohol content from 2023. The bandings are: 1.2% – 3.4%; 3.5% – 8.4%; 8.5% – 22%; and 22% and above. Drinks with an ABV of 8.5% or above are to be taxed across all categories. Sunak also unveiled tax breaks for small producers and a ‘draft beer relief’, cutting duty by 5% on beer and cider sold in kegs of 40 litres or more.

James Simmonds, partner at UHY Hacker Young, said taxing drinks in proportion to their alcohol content “means that it will be much easier for businesses to work out how much duty they owe, saving substantial time and costs,” according to an article in Accounting WEB.

“The decision to freeze duty rates on beer, cider, wine and spirits for another year will prevent the current situation from getting worse. However, this is effectively a segue into the new duty reform coming in March 2023,” said Simmonds, who heads the chartered accountants’ national drinks sector group and advises owner-managed businesses as both reporting accountant and auditor.