A major shake-up of the way alcohol is taxed could leave many drinks costing more from Tuesday.
Under what the Treasury says are new “common-sense” principles, tax is being levied according to a drink’s strength.
Duty will increase overall, with most wines and spirits seeing rises, but will fall on lower-alcohol drinks and most sparkling wine.
Taxes on draught pints will not change, an additional measure designed to support pubs.
Alcohol duties have been frozen since 2020. These changes were originally scheduled for February this year but were postponed by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as the cost-of-living crisis continued.
Now with prices still rising, though at a slower rate, the government is going ahead with a 10.1% rise in alcohol duties, and is also overhauling the system.
Drinks with alcohol by volume (ABV) below 3.5% will be taxed at a lower rate, but tax on drinks with ABV over 8.5% will stay the same, whether it is wine, spirit or beer.
As a result, sparkling wine, which was previously taxed at a higher rate than still wine, will be 19p cheaper, for a standard-strength bottle, if retailers pass on the tax changes by lowering prices. A can of pre-mixed gin and tonic would be 5p cheaper.
Tax on a typical bottle of still wine with ABV 12% will go up by 44p, but on wine with 15% ABV, tax will rise by 98p, according to the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA).
Spirits and fortified wines, such as sherry and port, will see steep rises.
