Rachel Reeves' raising of alcohol duty has 'failed spectacularly' with booze taxes set to rake in nearly £1billion less than forecast this year, it has been claimed.
Latest figures from HMRC show overall receipts from alcohol duty since April are down 4.3 per cent compared to last year.
Over the same period, tax receipts from wine are down 6 per cent, while revenues from spirits and beer are down 5 per cent and 2.5 per cent, respectively.
Tax receipts from cider were up 10 per cent, but industry experts said these sales are so small they do not really affect the overall downward trend.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association found, if the trend to date continues over the rest of this financial year, then tax receipts from alcohol would come in at £12.1billion.
