The government’s own numbers show that alcohol is under-taxed

Whilst weighing up his options for next week’s Budget, the Chancellor will be coming under significant industry pressure to cut alcohol duty, as he has for the past three years. One common argument is that UK consumers are overburdened with alcohol taxes. However, Aveek Bhattacharya presents analysis showing that alcohol taxes should in fact be significantly higher – and that the government’s own estimates of social harm lead to the same conclusion.