Beer bottle duty stamp decision 'expected soon'

Speaking during a meeting in the House of Commons of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group (APPBG) Beer Tax Fraud Inquiry last week, Andy Leggett, deputy director of alcohol, tobacco and gambling taxes at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), said that after investigation of the evidence presented on the impact of fiscal stamps “our assessment is just the same”.

The Government launched a consultation on the introduction of duty stamps on beer bottles in March 2012, claiming it would help cut £500m worth of beer fraud.

The APPBG presented a report to Government in July claiming fiscal stamps were “premature”, calling for better communication between HMRC and the industry.

Leggett said it had taken 12 months to analyse the consultation responses as HMRC “genuinely wants to get to the root of the problem” and has consulted further with stakeholders including the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA).

He said “the timing is with ministers”, but admitted a decision could be made as soon as the end of June.

One of the criticisms of the APPBG report was that enforcement should be central to the Government strategy to tackle fraud.

In response, Leggett said HMRC had increased its enforcement activities after gaining funding of £17.6m to tackle alcohol fraud.

However, despite this increase in enforcement, he said: “My assessment of the fraud is that the system is open to abuse. I think we have to move faster to stand still.”

Leggett also confirmed that the disparity between the estimated fraud suggested by HMRC and the industry was due to different methodologies of collecting data. He also confirmed that HMRC was now looking into the extent of wine fraud and said the Government would be launching a consultation document in the summer.

BBPA policy director Andy Tighe welcomed the consultation on the supply chain, but said the organisation has been “frustrated at progress”. He said it was important to agree a methodology for working out the level of alcohol fraud.