Measure
The government has announced that the Alcohol Duty Stamps scheme will end.
Suppliers and producers of spirits, wines or other fermented products that are to be sold in the UK market, authorised warehouse keepers or owners of goods held in an excise warehouse.
The scheme will end with effect from 1 May 2025. Records should however be maintained for containers stamped while the scheme was in force.
This measure will not come as a surprise to UK suppliers, producers or importers following a previous announcement in the 2024 Spring Budget statement that the scheme will be abolished.
The measure will be a welcomed by businesses as a way of reducing administrative burdens and additional red tape in the supply of alcohol products on the UK market.
However, given the scheme was originally introduced to reduce excise duty fraud, the effect of the measure, as well as whether the government will implement additional controls aimed at achieving this aim, remains to be seen.