UK: British Beer and Pub Association urges for tax break reinstatement

The British Beer and Pub Association has urged the government to reinstate the tax break announced by former premier Liz Truss and scrapped by the new management of Rishi Sunak. The annual increase in the pint is 8%, The Times Hub reported on November 13.

British pubs want the government to help them keep pint prices affordable this Christmas as rising inflation is driving up business costs and making it harder to purchasing power of consumers.

In a letter dated 11 November to Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) called on the government to re-freeze the tax on beer in its November 17 budget announcement.

“We need the beer tax freeze reinstated to ease at least some of the cost pressure on our bars and brewers and to prevent crucial alcohol tax reform measures from being undermined,” BBPA Chief Executive Emma McClarkin said in a statement.

The freeze, which was due to take effect from February, was lifted as part of measures taken by Hunt last month passed to remove tax cuts put in place by former Prime Minister Liz Truss and reduce her massive energy subsidy.

The BBPA claimed that the rise in prices of all kinds of products, from raw materials to fuel, is forcing companies to pass on the costs to their customers in bars, since the average price of a pint has risen 8% compared to last year.

The tax on the production and sale of beer depends on its strength.

The industry body warned that if the beer tax freeze was not introduced, it would reach the highest level in the industry's history, adding that a freeze would channel some £360 mln sterling (423.5 million dollars) back to the industry.

The British government warned on November 13 of imminent tax increases, especially for the wealthiest, as it seeks to repair the economic damage caused by the short tenure of the former Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Truss's successor, Rishi Sunak, who was addressing a G20 economic summit in Indonesia, has vowed to rein in rising inflation, even if it means more pain for struggling consumers and businesses.

His Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, told Sky News that the effect would fall disproportionately on the wealthy, as he prepares to unveil a emergency budget declaration on Thursday, November 17.

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