29 Market Street, Tamworth, B79 7LR
Albion Road, Marden, TN12 9DT
Riviera Centre, Torquay
11-13 April 2025
23 Haltwhistle Road, South Woodham Ferrers, CM3 5ZA
Unit 11, Valley Point Industrial Estate, Beddington Farm Road, Beddington, CR0 4WP
Argyle Place, Love Road, Lowestoft, NR32 2NZ
116, Foregate Street, Chester, Chester, CH1 2HH
Our pubs face one of the highest rates of beer duty in Europe, and this high level of tax is one of the key factors squeezing publicans and forcing them to either put up prices for consumers or close their doors forever.
The good news is that CAMRA’s campaigning has won a landmark change in the way beer is taxed, persuading the Government to create a new, lower rate of duty for beer sold in pubs. This step will begin to level the playing field between the price of beer sold in social, community settings and cheap supermarket alcohol consumed at home.
This is something CAMRA has campaigned on for many years, and we’ll keep working to help ensure that consumers, brewers and publicans can enjoy the maximum benefits of this ground-breaking new policy.
The legislation that creates the new, lower rate of tax for beer and cider sold on draught needs improving. At the moment, a draught container that has the lower rate of tax paid can’t be ‘decanted’ for consumption off the premises as a measure to prevent fraud.
However, this prevents any sales of takeaway pints, unless the higher rate of tax has been paid on the whole container.
The Government’s decision to prevent all repackaging of beer that has paid the lower rate of tax is going to have a range of knock-on effects, and CAMRA is calling for Government to take a common-sense approach and amend this legislation as soon as possible.
So far, we’ve worked with our partners in the industry and the Treasury to look at potential solutions, and the Treasury has agreed to include an option for large draught containers to pay the higher rate of tax. This vital exemption will mean that businesses that rely on takeaway sales like bottle shops, some taprooms, and refill shops, will be able to keep trading.
We’ve also engaged with Parliament, discussed the issue with the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, responded to Treasury consultations and worked to try and amend legislation in the House of Commons.
Next we’ll be focusing on securing an option to sell takeaway pints at the Autumn Budget.
Click below to learn about how and why CAMRA campaigns to reform beer tax.
You can find research from Europe Economics on the benefits of reform, see beer writer Jonny Garrett talk about some of the issues affecting cask beer, and read CAMRA’s full policy submission to the Government’s Alcohol Duty Review.
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