Beer tax costs pubs an extra £66,500 a year to run, new figures show
By: JimOldfield
July 29th, 2012
By Hand-Pumped Staff
July 29 2012
The colossal cost of beer duty and VAT is saddling the average British pub with a £66,500 a year bill, CAMRA and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) have revealed.
The two organisations’ joint research showed this massive drag anchor has gone up by a staggering £18,000 in four years – since the last Labour Government introduced the hated Beer Escalator tax in 2008.
That’s a 38 per cent rise which struggling publicans have had to take on board.
Yet the incoming Coalition has continued to ignore the desperate pleas of the industry, to rescind the tax – whose unpopularity is reflected in the fact that some 66,000 real ale lovers have now signed an E-petition, demanding that the issue be debated by Parliament.
The petition has now gone into the pubs, with publicans and drinkers alike being urged to collect signatures.
BBPA chief executive, Brigid Simmonds, said: “The whole industry is united on this vital issue.
“These new figures show the unsustainable burden of this tax on pubs. Only public pressure will force the Government to think again, as further increases above inflation are planned, every year – even though the Government doesn’t expect to make any additional revenue from the policy.”
And CAMRA’s chief executive, Mike Benner, added: “When it comes to the beer and pub industry, there is no greater common ground than the fight to end the beer duty escalator, a punitive measure which has been of huge detriment to publicans and consumers since its introduction.
“We urge licensees and consumers across the country to get behind this campaign.”
Meanwhile, the wash-out British summer to date has put further pressure on the industry – after Euro 2012 and the Jubilee failed to put back the beer sales washed away by the constant rain.
BBPA quarterly figures showed that both on and off sales struggled from April to June, with overall beer sales plunging by 5.3 per cent compared to the same period last year.
The on-trade sale was down by 4.6 per cent and off by 5.9 per cent.
Hand-Pumped link:
www.beerandpub.com
www.camra.org.uk
