Women are being unfairly penalised for their love of wine with big tax rises, campaigners say

Women are being unfairly penalised for their love of wine with big tax rises, campaigners say

  • Television host Kate Thornton said increase in duty would ‘hit women hardest’ 
  • Wine Drinkers UK asking Rishi Sunak to cut Excise Duty on wine in the Budget 
  • Survey found 43 per cent of women favour wine, compared to 21 per cent men 

Women are being unfairly penalised for their love of wine with big tax rises, campaigners have claimed today. 

Television presenter Kate Thornton, who hosts the White Wine Question Time podcast, today claimed that should duty on wine increase again it would ‘hit women the hardest.’

She has joined campaigners from Wine Drinkers UK, who are asking Chancellor Rishi Sunak to cut Excise Duty on the alcohol ahead of next week’s Budget.

They are also urging Mr Sunak to extend the temporary hospitality VAT cut introduced last year to March 2022, and to broaden it to include sales of alcoholic drinks.

Four in ten women in the UK list wine as their favourite drink, and tax on the tipple has risen twice as fast as duty on beer in the past decade. 

Women are being unfairly penalised for their love of wine with big tax rises, campaigners have claimed today. Pictured: Stock image

Wine drinkers have paid an estimated £4.6billion more in tax than beer lovers.

A YouGov survey found 43 per cent of female drinkers favour wine, compared to 21 per cent of men.

Around 58 per cent of women would also order wine in a restaurant, while 47 per cent of men said they would instead accompany their meal with a beer. 

Ms Thornton said: ‘Surely wine should be treated the same way as beer and spirits when it comes to tax? I’m baffled as to why it is singled out as an outlier that is open to higher taxes. 

‘And when you consider that women are more likely to drink wine than men any increase in duty will hit women the hardest.’   

Helena Nicklin, a wine writer and broadcaster, added: ‘Politicians have repeatedly fallen into the trap of cutting beer duty to score points with the average ‘working man’, which is unfair. 

Television presenter Kate Thornton (pictured), who hosts the White Wine Question Time podcast, today claimed that should duty on wine increase again it would 'hit women the hardest'

Television presenter Kate Thornton (pictured), who hosts the White Wine Question Time podcast, today claimed that should duty on wine increase again it would ‘hit women the hardest’

Campaigners from Wine Drinkers UK, are asking Chancellor Rishi Sunak to cut Excise Duty on the alcohol ahead of next week's Budget

Campaigners from Wine Drinkers UK, are asking Chancellor Rishi Sunak to cut Excise Duty on the alcohol ahead of next week’s Budget

‘Wine duty has doubled since 2000 and there hasn’t been a cut since 1984. 

‘The unavoidable fact is that women are more likely to drink wine and if the Chancellor Rishi Sunak increases wine duty it will unfairly impact women more than men.’     

Duty on wine has increased by 39 per cent since 2010, while beer has seen a much lower rise of 16 per cent.

Following these increases, more duty is now paid on a serving of wine than any other alcoholic drink, with duty making up 52p of an average 175ml glass of wine.

A YouGov survey found 43 per cent of female drinkers favour wine, compared to 21 per cent of men

 A YouGov survey found 43 per cent of female drinkers favour wine, compared to 21 per cent of men

As well as duty, alcoholic drinks are also subject to standard VAT of an additional 20 per cent.    

The YouGov survey of more than 1,800 respondents across the UK found one in three UK adults who drink alcohol say wine is their favourite alcoholic drink, beating beer and spirits into second and third place respectively.

The last cut in duty on wine was in 1984, when Nigel Lawson was Chancellor under Margaret Thatcher.