a day ago
Cost of supermarket booze set to soar after Labour clobbers brewers with extra £124million in taxes
The British Beer & Pub Association reckons it will put around 16p on a four-pack
SHOP BOOZE TAX HIKE Cost of supermarket booze set to soar after Labour clobbers brewers with extra £124million in taxes
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BREWERS have warned of shop price hikes after being hit with a £124million tax on packaging.
Ministers yesterday saddled beer and lager producers with a £192 a tonne charge for recycling their glass bottles.
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The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which puts them on the hook for the cost of council collection, sorting and recycling, has been branded a 'Bevy Levy'.
The British Beer & Pub Association reckons it will put around 16p on a four-pack.
Boss Emma McClarkin said: "By heaping a further £124million on brewers - the equivalent of 4p per 330ml bottle – these new fees sabotage the Chancellor's hopes for British businesses and will hit shoppers at the tills.
'To put it mildly, EPR could drive some brewers out of the glass bottle market and heap more costs on pubs which will only endanger jobs and growth.
'This is just not good enough given the barrage of rates and regulations the sector is already grappling with.'
Alex MacDonald of the UK Spirits Alliance warned 'punishing fees' for glass will hurt business and raise the price of drinks for consumers.
Earlier in the year Jeremy Clarkson used his Sun column to lash out at the Bevy Levy and all the other taxes crippling pubs like his, The Farmer's Dog.
EPR makes producers responsible for the full eco lifecycle of their products, footing the cost of councils to collect, sort and recycle waste packaging.
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