What are the key duty and cash flow differences between distillers and brewers under UK alcohol duty regulations?

UK alcohol duty treatment differs significantly between distillers and brewers, with major implications for cash flow and growth:

**Duty payment timing** — Brewers pay duty on invoicing (when they sell), but distillers must pay duty before sale. This creates a substantial cash flow disadvantage for spirits producers.

**Small producer relief** — Brewers benefit from small producer relief on duty, but distillers have no equivalent relief available. Members have flagged this as a major parity issue and called for distillers to receive the same relief as small brewers.

**Implications** — The combination of upfront duty payment and lack of small producer relief means distillers face significantly higher working capital requirements than brewers at comparable production scales.

Members noted this is a persistent structural inequality in the regulatory framework that disadvantages the spirits sector relative to beer.