The Taxman is failing to back England’s national drink - gin - booze industry figures have warned ahead of Wednesday’s budget.
Analysis from the UK Spirits Alliance found the cost of duty on a bottle of gin in the UK is 77% higher than the EU average.
Some 70% of the cost of a bottle of gin is claimed in tax.
Meanwhile, Spanish wine drinkers pay zero tax on their national beverage.
And lovers of sparkling wine in France pay just 15p of tax per glass.
The group called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to “give Brit drinkers and distillers a tonic and not a shot in the foot” by slashing booze duty in Wednesday’s budget.
A spokesman for the UK Spirits Alliance said: “Drinkers in Paris, Madrid and Rome are ordering our gins at the double and paying just a fraction of the duty slapped on here.
“On average UK spirits duty is 77 per cent higher than the EU average. That’s not fair on drinkers here.”
He added: “Gin is England’s national spirit - you can imagine what a Frenchman might say to being told to hand the taxman 70 per cent of the value of a bottle of pastis? Or an Italian priced out of a shot of grappa?”
Distilleries last month slammed the Government for leaving out spirits producers from the Energy Bill Relief scheme when other alcohol categories were included.
They said it “makes no sense given the high energy intensive nature of distilling” - and called on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt not to fuel industry costs by hiking excise duty in next month’s Budget.
A survey of distilleries conducted by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) found 27% expect energy costs to rise by over half again in 2023.
Two-thirds of distillers also expressed fears Jeremy Hunt could increase alcohol duty in the Budget, which would come into force from August.
