Explanatory note

These Regulations provide for a single excise duty system for alcoholic products generally, consolidating and replacing the various systems used for individual alcoholic products. Duty is based on the volume and strength of the finished product. These Regulations also make provision for reliefs from excise duty.

Part 1 of these Regulations provides for citation, commencement and interpretation.

Part 2 provides for a new system for measuring alcoholic strength. Regulations 2 and 3 set out the methods for ascertaining the volume and strength of alcoholic products respectively. Regulation 4 sets out the circumstances in which and the means by which HMRC may carry out assessments where an incorrectly low amount of duty has been applied.

Part 3 makes provision in relation to reliefs from duty. Regulation 5 does so for undrinkable sediment, regulation 6 for grower’s domestic consumption relief and regulation 7 for draught relief. Regulations 8 to 14 do so for small producer relief (specifically as to what constitutes a small producer alcoholic product in Northern Ireland, how payments of duty may be made where products are moved between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, documentation to be provided, and record-keeping.

Part 4, in regulation 15, makes provision in relation to denatured alcohol.

Part 5, in regulation 16, makes provision in relation to travellers’ allowances (specifically in relation to rates).

Schedule 1 provides for the tolerance requirements for large packs filled with metered or weighed volumes of alcoholic product. Schedule 2 provides for the method of determining the strength of alcoholic product where due care has not been taken to ensure that the strength ascertained in accordance with any of the deeming methods set out in regulation 3 accurately represents the actual strength of the alcoholic product.

Any notices referred to in these Regulations will be published at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/alcohols-notices. A person unable to access the notices electronically may access them in hard copy by post free of charge on application to Alcohol Policy, Indirect Tax, HM Revenue & Customs, Trinity Bridge House, 2 Dearmans Place, Salford, M3 5BS.

A Tax Information and Impact Note covering this instrument will be published on the HMRC website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tax-information-and-impact-notes-tiins.