Business
Devon gin maker fears further tax increase in Budget
Miles DavisDevon political reporter
BBCA gin producer and drinks maker is concerned the chancellor might increase tax on spirits again in the Budget.
The previous Conservative government increased excise duty by more than 10% in August 2023 and Labour increased the tax by another 3.65% in 2024.
Mick Skerratt from Exeter Gin said another increase in duty would be a tough blow to take at a time when all other production costs are increasing.
HM Treasury said the majority of UK spirits were exported and so not liable for UK alcohol duty.
Mr Skerratt said: “It would put a massive pressure on us as a business and also to our customers.
“There’s only so far that a margin can stretch and profitability will be affected.”
The gin producer said the spirits industry was being “used as a bit of a cash cow for the government”.
He said: “We’re in a cost of living crisis and there’s a tipping point to what people are prepared and able to pay and it doesn’t help anybody – it doesn’t help the consumer and it doesn’t help us as a small business.”
The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on UK Spirits, which was set up to support the industry, said the number of distilleries in the UK had tripled in the past seven years, from 350 to 1,050, which it described as “a modern British success story”.
The group said excise duty accounted for about 70% of the price of an average bottle of spirits sold in the UK.
The group’s chairwoman, Labour MP Carolyn Harris, called for a complete freeze on excise duty in Wednesday’s Budget and for the remainder of this Parliament.
She said: “By not freezing duty we’re putting all distillers in a position whereby they’re going to have their business threatened or they’re going to create unemployment which would be no good for the economy.
“It makes sense to me to freeze the duty so at least the industry can move on from where they are now and start to thrive and survive.”
Duty on beer has been frozen or reduced at every Budget for the last 12 years and the APPG said the discrepancy in changes to taxation on beer and spirits was unfair.
Brewery boss Alan Collyer said any changes to duty on beer had little impact compared to the wider problems facing small businesses.
Mr Collyer, owner of Exeter Brewery, said: “These pennies here and there really don’t make a significant enough difference to drive people back to pubs.
“You’ve got the contrast between very cheap alcohol in the supermarkets compared to increasing costs of a pint of beer in a pub and it would need substantive change to make people think it was worth going back to the pub again.”
A spokesperson for HM Treasury said “our distilleries are vital to Britain’s economy”.
“We’re making it easier for them to thrive: no export duty, lower licensing fees, reduced tariffs, and a cap on corporation tax,” they said.
Food bills are set to soar as much as 10 per cent this year as a direct consequence of the Iran war, a key industry body has warned.
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents 12,000 food and drink manufacturers, has hiked its inflation forecast for the year from 3.2 per cent to between nine and 10 per cent.
During the 2022 cost of living crisis, food inflation rose at a rate of 10.9 per cent, figures from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) show, while the following year was even worse at 14.6 per cent.
Since then, it had dropped back to 2.7 per cent (2024) and 4.2 per cent (2025), but while this year had originally been forecast to deliver food inflation of 3.2 per cent, the latest assessment is that it will instead see a huge rise in the second half of 2026.
The FDF said the current situation is “unprecedented and hard to predict”, but it’s “clear that food inflation is going to rise in the months ahead”.
How much that adds to the average bill depends on the size and frequency of a consumer’s usual grocery habits, but on average, bills could rise by around £588, according to some estimates.
Consumer rights and review site Which? frequently assesses UK supermarkets for cost, and at the start of 2026, an average basket of 89 shopping products cost £161.56 at Aldi and up to £217.02 at Waitrose.
Assuming food inflation lands at the mid-point of the FDF forecast, 9.5 per cent, and that all products and supermarkets applied that uplift equally, that would move the costs of those shops up to £176.91 and £237.64 respectively.
Research from confused.com suggested the average UK household spent £119 each week on food shopping, which is £6,188 each year; a 9.5 per cent uplift to that equates to an extra £588 annually, or a total of just over £130 per week and £6,775 annually.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to meet with some supermarket chiefs on Wednesday, including Sainsbury’s and Tesco, over discussions to assess the upcoming impact of price rises on the cost of living. The Treasury has described it as a “fact-finding” conversation.
Last month, Asda boss Allan Leighton called on Labour to do more to help businesses after creating “a lot of constraints” for them.
For food manufacturers, there is both a concern now and another yet to come in terms of energy cost rises.
Diesel – used in farm machinery – is up by 80 per cent since the start of the war, while fertiliser costs could increase further, as well as supply being constrained. The FDF also points to lost sales due to cancelled shipments to the Middle East, with UK firms regularly exporting cheese, cereals, chocolate and more to the region.
Dr Liliana Danila, chief economist at The Food and Drink Federation, said: “The food and drink sector is already feeling the force of this geopolitical shock. As one of the UK’s energy-intensive industries, manufacturers are facing mounting energy bills, rising transport and packaging costs and disruption across key supply chains.
“These pressures are hitting simultaneously and are a significant challenge for businesses to absorb.
“The current situation is unprecedented and hard to predict; however, given the scale and speed of these cost increases, and despite companies’ best efforts not to pass price increases on, it’s clear that food inflation is going to rise in the months ahead.”
The FDF says its upgraded inflation figures were based on “assumptions that the Strait of Hormuz opens to cargo traffic within the next two to three weeks”, as has been suggested by Donald Trump this week, and that most commodities, including oil, gas and fertiliser production, return to normal within a year.
In the past few months, the FDF has repeatedly called for the government to offer support to businesses in the sector from rising energy bills in the same way as it does to those in some other manufacturing areas.
GST collections: India’s net Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections increased to Rs 1.78 lakh crore in March 2026, marking a rise of 8.2% compared to the previous month, according to official figures released on Wednesday.Gross GST revenue for March stood at Rs 2 lakh crore, which is an 8.8% increase over the same month last year.Abhishek Jain, Indirect Tax Head & Partner, KPMG says, “GST collections continue to show steady 9% annual growth, supported by strong import activity this month and consistent compliance. While export refunds have eased this month but remain healthy overall for the year”Refunds during the month totalled Rs 0.22 lakh crore, up 13.8% on a year-on-year basis, which resulted in net GST collections of Rs 1.78 lakh crore.Domestic GST revenue reached Rs 1.46 lakh crore, registering a growth of 5.9%, while revenue from imports was recorded at Rs 0.54 lakh crore, rising sharply by 17.8% during the period.Post-settlement GST figures across states presented a varied trend. While industrially advanced states recorded strong growth, several others reported a decline.Maharashtra contributed the highest amount to the overall collections at Rs 0.13 lakh crore on a pre-settlement basis, followed by Karnataka and Gujarat.Among states showing an increase in post-settlement SGST collections were Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, among others.On the other hand, states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Delhi, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, among others, registered a decline in post-settlement SGST revenues.
A wave of bullishness swept the Pakistan Stock Exchange on Wednesday, pushing the 100 Index up by more than 5,000 points to reach 153,700.
The surge reflects increased investor confidence and strong trading activity across major sectors.
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