§ Lieut.-Colonel HORLICKasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what licence duty any person entering the wine and spirit trade has to pay; what restrictions are imposed upon his normal supplies; and whether the Chancellor is ready to consider sympathetically cases where restriction orders act harshly against new traders?
1079W
§ Mr. CHURCHILLThe annual duties on the licences usually required by wine and spirit merchants are as follows:
On a licence to deal in spirits (i.e., to sell in quantities of 2 gallons and upwards at a time), £15 15s.
On a licence to deal in wines (i.e., to sell in quantities of 2 gallons and upwards at a time), £10 10s.
On a licence to retail spirits for consumption "off" the premises (i.e., to sell in quantities not less than one reputed quart bottle and not exceeding 2 gallons at a time), from £10 to £50 according to the annual value of the premises.
On a licence to retail wine for consumption "off" the premises (i.e., to sell in quantities not less than one reputed pint bottle and not exceeding 2 gallons at a time), from £2 10s. to £10 according to the annual value of the premises.
The duty on the licence to deal is reduced by one-half (subject to certain minimum payments) if the corresponding licence to retail is taken out for the same premises, and a person commencing a new business is charged the proportion of these duties for the period up to the end of the licence year.
There is no restricti non the clearances of spirits on payment of duty. Clearances 1080W of wine on payment of duty in the period 2nd February to 1st May, 1927, are restricted to one-quarter of the quantities of wine not exceeding 30 degrees or exceeding 30 degrees, respectively, cleared by the same trader in the calendar year 1926, plus 50 per cent. as regards Empire wines exceeding 30 degrees and plus 5 per cent. as regards all other wines.
Special arrangements have been made to meet the case of traders who began business in 1926 and therefore cleared wine during a portion only of that year.