Adam Smith Institute

Excise Duty and Value Added Tax account for nearly 2/3 of the price of spirits, vodka, whiskey, and gin, sold in the UK. This excessive tax rate penalises domestic production, encourages consumption of nearly all imported goods, costs jobs in the domestic drinks industry, and encourages bootleg and smuggled alcohol consumption. The UK can solve this problem by cutting excise duties gradually over five years to reach equivalency with EU duties, harmonizing UK and EU duties and signaling the goal of tax neutrality between alcoholic drinks.

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In a report that speaks volumes in relation to minimum wage laws in the UK, the authors show that unemployment rises each time minimum wages are raised; selectively higher in the very groups the rises are supposed to benefit. It's findings cannot be ignored.

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Keith Boyfield argues "The Case for Lower Excise Duties on Alcohol & Tobacco."

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Ordinary people pay more IHT than the rich. The UK rate is far above the EU average, hitting much smaller estates. The tax is a powerful disincentive on saving, kills family businesses, is costly to collect, and destroys far more than it yields. If it did not exist, no rational person would propose it.

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UK Capital taxes are the world's most complex, putting us at a disadvantage against EC partners. On UK and US figures, the author shows that the revenue-maximizing level for CGT is only 15% and argues for a cut to below 10%.

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