Finance Bill — [2nd Allotted Day] — Clause 3 — Duty on beverages made with spirits to be at spirits rates — 4 Jul 2002 at 14:45

The Aye voters failed to pass an amendment to delete lines 20 to 25 in clause 3 of the Finance Bill 2002.

Lines 20-25 read as follows:

"(1) Omit section 1(9) of the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (under which alcoholic beverages of a strength between 1.2 and 5.5 per cent made with spirits are treated as not being spirits, unless of a description specified by Treasury order).

(2) This section shall be deemed to have come into force on 28th April 2002.

Consequently, we can see that the amendment wanted to preserve the existing arrangement whereby alcoholic beverages of a strength between 1.2% and 5.5% made with spirits are classified as not spirits.

However, since the amendment was not passed these types of alcoholic beverages are now considered spirits which means they are subject to higher rates of duty.

Debate in Parliament | Historical Hansard | Source |