SWA (Scotch Whisky Association) har opgjort, at den engelske statskasse har tabt 500.000 pund i afgifter, hver eneste dag siden afgiften på spiritus blev hævet med 10,1 pct. pr. 1. august 2023, svarende til ca. 255 millioner pund. Tallene stammer fra HMRC og er altså officielle tal. De seneste tal viser et fald i provenuet på 3,6 pct. i november 2024 sammenlignet med november 2023.
Problemet for branchen er, at afgiften stiger yderligere pr. 1. februar 2025, hvor afgiften stiger med 3,65 pct.
Det er ikke bagatelagtige stigninger, og det er afgifterne i pund heller ikke. Faktisk er afgiften allerede på mindst 12 pund pr. flaske whisky. Med dagens kurs på 8,8 svarer det til en afgift på mindst 105 kr. pr. flaske, afhængig af alkoholstyrken. Det er væsentlig mere end i Danmark, hvor afgiften i 2025 er på 150 kr. pr. 100 cl. ren alkohol. En flaske whisky på 75 cl. med 40 pct. alkohol vil i Danmark altså koste 30 kr. i punktafgift.
Det er ikke overraskende, at afgifterne stiger på hård spiritus i UK, det har længe været en del af strategien, der meget specifik går på højere afgifter desto højere alkoholprocent. Det har jeg senest skrevet om i artiklen HER. Det interessante er derimod, at provenuet falder, hvilket ikke umiddelbart var det, der var budgetteret med, som jeg også skrev om i artiklen. Der var ikke så meget tvivl om, at så kraftige stigninger på spiritus ville medføre et fald i forbruget, men forventningen var så omvendt, at stigningerne i afgifterne ville opveje faldet, ligesom der i øvrigt også er sket stigninger for vine med relativ høj alkoholprocent, hvilket rigtig mange vine har i dag.
Tallene viser dog, at markedet er prisfølsomt, og at stigninger i afgift og told for den sags skyld, læs mere om det HER, slår igennem med det samme. Det gælder særligt i den billige ende af markedet, og ikke så meget når vi taler de dyre vine og spiritus, hvor afgiften procentuelt ikke fylder så meget.
Det er dog en tendens, der er værd at holde meget skarpt øje med, da det ikke kan undgå at påvirke markedet, og muligvis også de dyrere flasker. Selvom afgifterne ikke fylder meget er der alligevel en smertegrænse, medmindre vi taler de helt dyre investeringswhisky’s til mange (ti eller hundrede)tusinde kroner.
Mark Kent, Chief Executive i Scotch Whisky Association har på SWA’s hjemmeside udtalt, at
“Yet again the industry has been proved right about how hiking tax rates leads to less revenue and stalls growth. We are not crying wolf – HM Treasury needs to understand that even this resilient industry cannot be stretched beyond breaking point. In these new HMRC spirits duty figures, there is no sign of forestalling since the latest duty increase was announced on 30 October. There is just more evidence of an industry which is already overtaxed by the UK government.
Consumers cannot continue to bear the cost of one of the highest duty rates on Scotch Whisky in the world, which will get worse in three weeks when the latest duty hike announced by the Chancellor comes into effect.
The commitment made by the Prime Minister to ‘back Scotch producers to the hilt’ was broken by the decision to further increase duty on the industry. These new figures are just the latest evidence that was a misstep, just as the 10.1% increase by the previous government was – something Ministers in that government now admit.
The industry is resilient but faces headwinds at home and overseas. The one lever which the UK government directly controls is the rate of excise duty, where support can make all the difference in deciding to invest in the UK, creating jobs and boosting our domestic supply chain. The UK government should commit to supporting the industry, and not further raising duty on Scotch Whisky over this Parliament.”
Spørgsmålet er blot om der er klangbund i argumenterne, henset til formålet med afgifterne og hele strukturen i afgiftssystemet, hvorefter afgiften stiger med alkoholprocenten.
Hvad er SWA (Scotch Whisky Association)? Det kan de bedst selv svare på jf. deres hjemmeside:
“The Scotch Whisky Association is the trade association representing 95 percent of the Scotch Whisky industry. There are 151 operating Scotch Whisky distilleries in Scotland, supporting 41,000 jobs directly and 25,000 more across the UK. The industry generates £7.1 billion a year in gross added value to the UK economy.
Between August 2022 and November 2023, total spirits revenue was £5,669m. Between August 2023 and November 2024, total spirits revenue fell £255m to £5,414m.
In November 2023, spirits revenue was £392m. In November 2024, this fell to £378m.”
Læs mere om emnet her:
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s commitment to “back Scotch producers to the hilt” on a visit to InchDairnie Distillery in November 2023: https://x.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1725179802938699893
Former Conservative Minister Andrew Bowie MP has called previous government’s decision to increase duty by 10.1% a “misstep”: https://conservativehome.com/2024/10/29/andrew-bowie-the-conservative-government-was-wrong-to-hike-tax-on-scotch-labour-shouldnt-either/
Organisations which supported a freeze or a cut in duty on Scotch Whisky in the Budget on 30 October 2024 included: Prosper; Scottish Chamber of Commerce; IOD Scotland; Scotland Food and Drink; UK Hospitality Scotland; Scottish Tourism Alliance; GMB Scotland: https://www.scotch-whisky.org.uk/newsroom/key-scottish-business-organisations-call-on-chancellor-to-reduce-tax-burden-on-scotch-whisky/
