The Whiskey Reviewer A World of Whiskey, Poured Every Weekday
By Richard Thomas
In a move celebrated throughout the Scotch whisky industry, the British government has cut the excise duty on spirits by 2%. The cut was announced by British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne as part of his March 18 budget statement. This is the first cut in the duty on British spirits in nearly two decades.
According to the Scotch Whisky Association, the industry’s official trade organization, the price on an average bottle of mass market Scotch, priced at £12.90, will fall by 16p as a result of the tax cut. Even with the tax cut, however, taxes of various kinds continue to represent more than three-quarters of the cost of that bottle of Scotch.
The tax cut also effects other British spirits producers, such as the English gin industry.
