Instant quote
Instant quote
Draught beer between 3.5% and 8.4% pays £19.45 a litre of pure alcohol against £22.58 for bottles and cans. That is 44p of duty in a pint of 4% draught beer.
Published 3 November 2026
All articlesSince 1 August 2023 alcohol duty has been charged per litre of pure alcohol, in bands by strength. From 1 February 2026, beer between 3.5% and 8.4% pays £22.58 a litre of pure alcohol, or £19.45 when it qualifies as draught. Draught products from 1.3% to under 3.5% pay £8.58, and draught still cider from 3.5% to under 8.5% pays £8.95.
Draught relief applies to products under 8.5% in containers that hold 20 litres or more and connect to a pump or a gas-pressurised tap. Bag-in-box and gravity cask taps qualify. Product sold for drinking off the premises pays the full rate.
Brewers, excise warehousekeepers and importers pay the duty. It reaches a pub inside the price of each cask or keg, so it shows up in the cost of sales and in wet gross profit, not as a separate bill.
We report wet and dry gross profit separately each month and check the price of each line against its cost. Try the gross profit and menu pricing calculator, or see accountants for pubs and bars.
No. Product sold for drinking off the premises pays the full rate.
Brewers, excise warehousekeepers and importers. A pub pays it inside the price of the cask or keg.
Send us your last accounts, a recent VAT return and one payroll run. We will show you what we would change and what it would cost each month.