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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