Tax on wines and spirits increases from today, but some good news if you’re going to the pub for a pint

Published

2 years ago

August 1, 2023

admin

Wine and gin drinkers will have to shell out more from today as alcohol taxes rise.

The shake-up aims to encourage drinkers to cut back by taxing all alcohol based on its strength, rather than the previous categories of wine, beer, spirits and ciders.

The increase will see duty rise by 44p on a bottle of wine – something announced a few months ago in the budget.

When combined with VAT, the real increase per bottle will be 53p, the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) said.

Cost of living – latest: Scale of housing market downturn

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in March that a freeze on alcohol duty would end on 1 August and increase in line with the Retail Price Index measure of inflation, which was 10.7% last month.

All types of tipple are therefore affected.

Duty on an 18% cream sherry will go up from £2.98 to £3.85.

Combined with VAT, it adds up to an increase of more than £1 a bottle, while a bottle of port will go up by more than £1.50.

The total tax on a bottle of gin or vodka will rise by about 90p.

For beer drinkers, Mr Hunt is cutting the duty on draught pints across the UK by 11p.

It is seen as a measure designed to boost pubs, many of which have been closing.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hailed the move as beneficial to “thousands of businesses across the country”.

However, the British Beer and Pub Association said brewers will pay 10.1% more tax on bottles and cans of beer from Tuesday.

It means duty will make up about 30% of the cost of a 500ml bottle.

Scotch Whisky Association director of strategy Graeme Littlejohn described the 10.1% duty increase as a “hammer blow for distillers and consumers”.

He warned: “Pubs and other on-trade businesses are about far more than beer and cider.”

The Treasury has said that more than 38,000 UK pubs will benefit from tax relief that effectively freezes or cuts the alcohol duty on beer poured from tap from Tuesday.

Mr Hunt said: “British pubs are the beating heart of our communities and as they face rising costs, we’re doing all we can to help them out. Through our Brexit Pubs Guarantee, we’re protecting the price of a pint.

“The changes we’re making to the way we tax alcohol catapults us into the 21st century, reflecting the popularity of low alcohol drinks and boosting growth in the sector by supporting small producers financially.”

Politics

OCC boss says ‘no justification’ to judge banks and crypto differently

Published

2 hours ago

December 9, 2025

admin

OCC boss says ‘no justification’ to judge banks and crypto differently

Crypto companies seeking a US federal bank charter should be treated no differently than other financial institutions, says Jonathan Gould, the head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Gould told a blockchain conference on Monday that some new charter applicants in the digital or fintech spaces could be seen as offering novel activities for a national trust bank, but noted “custody and safekeeping services have been happening electronically for decades.”

“There is simply no justification for considering digital assets differently,” he added. “Additionally, it is important that we do not confine banks, including current national trust banks, to the technologies or businesses of the past.”

The OCC regulates national banks and has previously seen crypto companies as a risk to the banking system. Only two crypto banks are OCC-licensed: Anchorage Digital, which has held a charter since 2021, and Erebor, which got a preliminary banking charter in October.

Crypto “should have” a way to supervision

Gould said that the banking system has the “capacity to evolve from the telegraph to the blockchain.”

He added that the OCC had received 14 applications to start a new bank so far this year, “including some from entities engaged in novel or digital asset activities,” which was nearly equal to the number of similar applications that the OCC received over the last four years.

*Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould giving remarks at the 2025 Blockchain Association Policy Summit. Source:* *YouTube*

“Chartering helps ensure that the banking system continues to keep pace with the evolution of finance and supports our modern economy,” he added. “That is why entities that engage in activities involving digital assets and other novel technologies should have a pathway to become federally supervised banks.”

Gould brushes off banks’ concerns

Gould noted that banks and financial trade groups had raised concerns about crypto companies getting banking charters and the OCC’s ability to oversee them.

“Such concerns risk reversing innovations that would better serve bank customers and support local economies,” he said. “The OCC has also had years of experience supervising a crypto-native national trust bank.”