Alcohol and tobacco tax
As we have seen over the last 20 or 30 years, alcohol and cigarettes are easy targets for Chancellors from all sides of the political spectrum. Yesterday we saw a 2% increase on beer and alcohol duties which equates to about one pence on a pint of beer, four pence on a bottle of wine and thirteen pence on a bottle of spirits. Cigarettes also came under fire with a seven pence rise on a packet of 20 cigarettes under the guise of "protecting the health of the nation".
We have come to accept constant increases in tax rated to alcohol and tobacco over many years but even in these times of recession it seems as though nothing is sacrosanct. The very fact that the UK authorities have made a play for the low-income families in the UK is negated by the fact that each and every person in the UK will be affected by the increase in alcohol and cigarette tax. These small, but significant, tax rises raise billions of pounds for the UK Treasury and are a further stealth tax on the UK population.
As and when the UK economy does start to improve we will see more and more of these taxes introduced at higher and higher levels.
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