BREWERS have welcomed the UK government’s decision not to introduce duty stamps for beer bottles.
HMRC consulted on the possibility of introducing stamps for beer bottles last year as a way of combating duty fraud, and spent a year analysing responses. Last week the economic secretary to the Treasury, Sajid Javid, announced that the government would not be pushing ahead with the plans.
Keith Bott, chairman of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), welcomed the decision to adopt a “pragmatic rather than bureaucratic” approach.
“By choosing not to burden the UK’s brewers with the added challenge of duty stamps the government has again acknowledged that draught beer is a relatively low-alcohol drink, enjoyed for the most part in the sociable, supervised environment of the pub,” said Bott.
