Do you produce, store or supply spirits, wine or made wine for the UK market? If you do, you need to act now to be ready for the UK Duty Stamps Scheme. From 1st October 2006, bottles of spirits, wine and made wine of 30% ABV or more will have to display a duty stamp when they pass a UK Excise duty point. This means that from this date onwards, you will not be able to release unstamped bottles onto the UK market without first affixing duty stamps. To find out how the new Duty Stamps Scheme will affect your business and what you need to do to be ready, visit www.ukdutystamps.info and give yourself a head start.

Your checklist

  • Do I need to be registered?
  • What type of stamp will I use?
  • Do I need to purchase any new equipment to affix stamps?
  • Will my existing record keeping systems be sufficient?
  • What are my supplier/customer requirements?Find out more about the scheme atwww.ukdutystamps.infoAre you eligible for a Capital Grant to help your business affix the new UK Duty Stamp?Capital Grants are available to help small and medium sized businesses during the introduction of the UK Duty Stamps Scheme. If you will physically affix duty stamps to bottles as part of this scheme, and you will incur capital expenditure to do so, you could be eligible for a grant of up to €100,000.To qualify, your business must have a turnover of less than €50m and a balance sheet of less than €43m, and fewer than 250 employees. Eligible costs include, for example, new labelling machinery on your bottling line, or any other fixed capital equipment that enables your business to affix duty stamps to bottles.Applications for Capital Grants must be received by 1 October 2006.Don’t miss out, visit www.ukdutystamps.info or call the helpline on 0845 010 9000 for an application form or further information.Written by
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Decanter Staff
Decanter Staff
Decanter Team

Content written and compiled by the Decanter Team