Wine drinkers call for duty to remain flat amid claims of gender bias

A wine drinkers’ lobby group has called on the Chancellor not to increase duty on wine at next week’s Autumn Statement – in a bid to eradicate gender bias in alcohol taxation.

More women drink wine than men, the report said.

Wine Drinkers UK, a collection of wine lovers, makers and sellers, is calling on Rishi Sunak to commit to rebalancing duty on all wines – claiming that women pay more tax and VAT because they choose wine over beer.

Official data from the Office for National Statistics found that the impact of Government plans to increase wine duty by RPI – 4.9 per cent - would increase prices even further, adding an extra 13p to a bottle of still wine and 17p to a bottle of sparkling wine.

The group said that wine drinkers pay an average of 13 per cent more duty and VAT on a night out than beer drinkers – with women twice as likely to drink wine or sparkling wines in pubs, bars and restaurants than men.

A report examined the drinks receipts from bar bills in London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow following a night out. Each receipt included a round of drinks for five people made up of beer and wine respectively.

Across the regions, the average price of a round of five beers was £22.88 while the average for a round of five wines totalled £26.53. The Duty plus VAT for beer accounted for an average £6.20 while wine was subject to an average £7.02 for Duty and VAT, 13 per cent higher.

Helena Nicklin, wine writer and Wine Drinkers UK supporter, said: “For too long, wine drinkers have missed out when the tax breaks have gone to beer. This leads to an unfair gender bias in tax because, according to official statistics, women are far more likely to choose wine when they are in a pub, bar or restaurant. It's about time we saw wine duty reduced and an end to the gender bias in the system.”

Wine is the UK’s favourite alcoholic drink, but tax rises on wine have far outstripped those on other alcoholic drinks and twice as fast as that on beer. The last cut in duty on wine was in 1984 when Nigel Lawson was Chancellor under Margaret Thatcher.

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