UK government plans to use taxes to address alcohol over- consumption
01 Dec 2010
The UK government has come in for criticism over plans to tackle problem drinking by hiking taxes on super-strength beer and lager.
The additional duty to come into effect from autumn will apply to beer of strength above 7.5 per cent alcohol by volume.
At the same time, duties on low-alcohol beers with a strength of 2.8 per cent or less will be cut to encourage consumption of these types.
The new tax would be announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his budget next spring.
The proposed changes come after an informal Treasury consultation and were announced at the same time as publishing of a public health White Paper by health secretary Andrew Lansley.
In a statement, the Treasury said that the government recognised, that most drinkers were responsible but concerns over problem consumption were real.