WSTA comment on wine and spirit freeze

Miles Beale Chief Executive of the Wine & Spirit Trade Association, said:

“The decision to freeze wine and spirit duty comes as a huge relief to British businesses, the hospitality sector – including its supply chain - and consumers, giving everyone a much-needed break to help them recover from the pandemic.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak should be commended for listening to our calls for support and understanding that punishing tax hikes are not the best way to reinvigorate the sector. 

By offering continued respite to the UK wine and spirit sector his actions will help save jobs and - in time – replenish revenues to the Treasury through growth in our potential-filled sector.

We welcome the reduction of the sparkling wine super tax, which is long overdue. We look forward to seeing the detail of a new system which should remove the existing unfairness of how different products are treated.”