Budget 2016: George Osborne could be about to freeze beer duty – or even cut it – among predictions for today’s red box announcements
There's not many secrets left to be spilled from George Osborne's red box today, but one of them could be a freeze on beer duty – or even a cut.
The chancellor is expected to confirm that the levy on pints will not be raised in line with inflation, according to The Sun, following months of campaigning by organisations such as Camra (Campaign for Real Ale) and pub groups.
Business secretary Sajid Javid yesterday dropped hints to the Commons, saying: "There are a lot of reasons to cut beer duty”.
Camra, which has fought for a 1p reduction in the tax and subsequent freeze for the rest of this parliament, argues that this would create 13,000 jobs in pubs and bars across the UK, save 550 pubs from closure and give the industry an additional £75m investment by 2020.
Currently around 27 pubs are shutting down a week.
The group also claims the UK pays nearly 40 per cent of all beer duty collected in the EU, yet provides just less than an eighth of the consumption.
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