The TaxPayers’ Alliance in the South West set up their stall alongside local food and drink producers at Bath’s historic Farmers’ Market—the first in the country—situated under the beautiful Victorian glass and iron roof of what used to be the Green Park railway station in the centre of the city of Bath.
Local traders and shoppers were delighted to sign our petition calling for a cut in Cider Tax and specifically the Cider Duty Escalator, which puts the price of cider up by 2 per cent above the rate of inflation every year. Last year, following our successful , the Chancellor scrapped the Beer Duty Escalator. ‘He should do the same for cider,’ said one Bath market trader. ‘Cider making supports many small businesses round here.’ Almost a quarter of the price you pay for a pint of cider goes to the taxman.
‘Smaller cider makers producing below 7,000 litres a year have an exemption from tax,’ says Richard Hudson of Dick Willows, a local craft cider producer. ‘I would like to see that extended to all small alcoholic drinks producers, such as local fruit wine. It would encourage a lot of makers to set up their own businesses, but now they can’t face the hassle and cost of it all.’