Measure
The government will close the Alcohol Duty Stamp scheme following a review undertaken by HMRC. The scheme previously required duty stamping of retail containers of spirits, wines and other fermented products that are intended for consumption in the UK.
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.
Government will publish legislation later this year for an “orderly wind-down” of the scheme.
The measure will be welcomed by businesses as a way of reducing administrative burdens in the supply of alcohol products in the UK market.
However, given the scheme was originally introduced to reduce excise duty fraud, it remains to be seen whether the government will implement additional controls to achieve this aim.