Duties on 'sin taxes' were frozen last year. However, the tax on tobacco products will rise from tomorrow, while drinkers will see increased tax on most alcohol products from the summer.
Draught beer is the exception, with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announcing that pubs will pay up to 11p less tax on a pint than supermarkets, dubbed the Brexit Pubs Guarantee.
Here, Which? explains how the Spring Budget affects the cost of your drinks, cigarettes and soft drinks.
Find out more:Alcohol duties
from August 2023, . By increasing 'draught relief' from 5% to 9.2%, the tax on a pint of cider or beer that you buy at the pub will effectively stay the same.Alcohol duty is included in the price you pay for beer, cider or perry, spirits, wine or 'made-wine', any alcoholic drink made by fermentation that's not cider, such as mead.
At the moment, the amount you pay depends on the type and strength of the drink or alcohol by volume (ABV), with different rates for still and sparkling in the cases of wine and cider.
For example, you currently pay 54p tax on a pint of 5% strength lager. The government has said it will legislate to change the way alcoholic products are taxed by introducing standardised bands based on ABV. The changes are expected to take effect from 1 August 2023.
Tobacco duties
Smokers face steep increases, as the duty on cigarettes will rise by RPI plus 2%, which could add around £1.75 to the price of a pack of 20 cigarettes, while the duty on hand-rolling tobacco will increase by RPI plus 6%.
These changes will take effect from 6pm on 15 March 2023.
All tobacco products are liable for duty, although you pay different amounts depending on whether you're buying cigarettes, cigars or other tobacco products.
There were no changes announced in 2022. However, today the Chancellor said smokers will pay more on all tobacco products.
E-cigarettes don't contain tobacco and are therefore not liable for tobacco duty.
Sugar tax
There's little change for people who opt for a soft drink rather than a beer at the bar.
The Soft Drinks Industry Levy, aka the sugar tax, aims to encourage manufacturers to reduce the sugar content of drinks to below the taxable thresholds.
In line with recent Budget announcements, there is no change to this tax, so for the 2023-24 tax year, the rates remain at:
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/what-the-2023-spring-budget-means-for-the-price-of-a-pint-a-pack-of-cigarettes-and-sugary-drinks-aQt1k4I4V1L3