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Excise Duty

Volume 83: debated on Thursday 25 July 1985

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asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy regarding differentials between levels of excise duty on beer, light still wines, sparkling wines, medium strength wines, high strength wines and spirits.

This is one of a number of factors that my right hon. Friend takes into account when deciding on the levels at which to set these duties in his Budget. Where the duties on beer and table wine are concerned, the differential is of course constrained by European Community law.

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total excise duty charged on spirits in the year ended 31 March; what was the total excise duty received; and what reasons account for any difference.

Customs and Excise do not maintain a central record of accrued liability to duty, but estimate, on the basis of quantities of spirits cleared for consumption in the year to 31 March 1985, that the duty charged was of the order of £1,430 million. The provisional out-turn for 1984–85 (that is, duty received) is £1,238·83 million. The figures are not identical because duty payment is deferred by an average of one month. Much of the difference is attributable to distortions of revenue flows in March and April, due primarily to Budget forestalling, the effect of which on receipts in a given year varies with the date of the Budget.