Government launches review of alcohol taxation and pricing in bid to tackle problem drinking

The government last week launched a review of alcohol taxation and pricing in a bid “to tackle problem drinking without unfairly penalising pubs, responsible drinkers or local industry”.

The review, which will be jointly led by the Home Office and the Treasury, will look at the rates and structure of duty on different products, the differential between duty rates on low and high strength products, and the interaction between tax and price.

The review will consider the impacts of potential tax measures on:

• Tax receipts
• The industry and the wider economy, and
• Public order and health.

“Potential tax measures will have to reflect the legal and practical constraints on the alcohol duty regime,” the government said.

It added: “Measures will also need to reflect the pressures on the fiscal position and the government’s commitment to reducing the deficit as its highest priority.”

There is not, as yet, any formal consultation on specific alcohol taxation proposals.

However, the government said it was likely that the review would consider measures such as potential options for increasing the taxation of high-strength drinks, and “other targeted measures that can directly impact on public order or public health outcomes”.

The government has called for responses to be submitted by 31 August 2010 to allow it to report in the autumn.