The chancellor George Osborne has cut 1p from the price of beer for the second year running, as well as scrapping the annual alcohol duty escalator, which will instead now rise with inflation.
In his penultimate budget before the 2015 general election, Osborne sought to reward “hard-working people” with a number of leisure concessions.
In addition to alcohol duty escalator abolition – which follows last year’s shelving of the mechanism for beer only – the chancellor announced that duty on Scotch Whisky would be frozen, with both moves offering welcome relief for Britain’s pubs and restaurants.
The move garnered a positive response from the industry, although often with the caveat that more needed to be done.
The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) tweeted from its official account: "UK beer duty now 13% lower than it would have been, under the 'escalator'. More action needed, but a big turnaround," while its chair, Brigid Simmonds, wrote: "1p off a pint again this year, what a fantastic result for beer. Cheers George!"
Osborne also revealed that bingo duty – the levy on bingo promotion profits – would be halved from 20 per cent to 10, praising Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who campaigned on this.
Billed as the budget for “makers, doers and savers” Osborne announced a number of tax breaks aimed at boosting commerce.
The annual investment allowance for businesses is to be doubled to £500,000 (costing the government £2bn) and extended to 2015, meaning 99.8 per cent of businesses will pay no tax on investment.
He plans to transform Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) into self-assessment to cut bureaucracy for “millions of workers” and will encourage firms to hire young workers by taking them out of employee national insurance. The government will also extend the grant for small businesses to support 100,000 more apprenticeships.
In addition to a recap of the plans for
a garden city in Ebbsfleet the chancellor pledged £20m to help fund cathedral repairs – noting that many would be central to commemorations of the first world war centenaries.
There was also a promise of money to support events marking the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.
And theatre productions are to receive a 20 per cent tax relief, rising to 25 per cent for touring productions
Full details of the budget can be viewed
here.
