Revenue eBrief No. 089/24

19 March 2024

Revisions to Alcohol Products Tax (APT) and Reliefs Manual

The Alcohol Products Tax (APT) and Reliefs Manual has been revised to include the contents of Notice No. 1886 on Alcohol Products Tax which is withdrawn upon publication of this revised manual.  Revisions are as set out below:

(a). The following paragraphs and appendices of the May 2023 edition of the manual have been removed and are now available in the new Denatured and Undenatured Alcohol Products Manual:

  • 3.2.1 Cooking Wine and Cooking Cognac
  • 3.2.3 Flavours for the preparation either of Foodstuffs or Beverages not exceeding 1.2%
  • 3.2.4 Denatured and Undenatured Alcohol Products
  • 3.5 Trader: Approvals and Security
  • 3.6  Bond/Financial Security
  • 3.7 Applications for Authorisation to Receive or Distribute Tax-relieved Alcohol Products (Denatured and Undenatured)
  • 3.8 Issue of Authorisations
  • 3.9 Record of Authorisations issued
  • 3.10 Requirements
  • 3.11 Requisition, Delivery and Receipt Procedures (Denatured and Undenatured)
  • Appendix 5: Standard Conditions applicable to persons who receive tax-relieved alcohol.
  • Appendix 6: Standard Conditions applicable to facilitation warehouses; involved in end-use manufacture or scientific research. 

(b). Removed paragraph 3.14 Restriction on Use referring to section 2(1) of the Immature Spirits (Restriction) Act 1947 as it is superseded by more recent legislation. 

(c). Paragraph 2.2 EU Law is updated with references to (i) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/157 regarding the electronic Simple Administrative Document and (ii) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/355 on the reference to the certificate for independent small producers of alcoholic beverages and the self-certification of those producers in the administrative documents.  

(d). The rates of Alcohol Products Tax in Appendix 2 are updated to reflect adjustments made under section 54 of the Finance Act 2023, to the rates charged on Cider or Perry over 8.5 %, with effect from 1 January 2024. 

(e). The Automated Import System (AIS) codes, replacing Excise Reference Numbers for product movements from third countries are included in Appendix 5 and replaced as appropriate throughout the manual.