UK Tax System and the Beer Duty Escalator

For those of you who don't have a clue about the UK Tax System (including most of the occupants of these Sceptered Isles) see here, there is a report by the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies - ed)  that has some interesting graphs (when he writes the word 'interesting' - it is worth noting that this not necessarily the word others might use for the piece of information that he is about to purvey - ed)  and is a good read if you want to get a grasp about how 'Da Government' (tm) tax us.

One graph (of the many - ed) that stands out for me, is the one that refers to the 'Excise Duties' on page 53. This shows a graph of total indirect taxation (VAT and excise duty) as percentage of the retail price (beer, wine, spirits, cigarettes (Sin Taxes), also on petrol and diesel.

Now I was under the impression that the Chancellor with his beer duty escalator was ramping up beer taxation but it is not obvious from this first graph. However, looking at Figure 5 on page 54 makes it quite clear that it has been going up more than inflation i.e. in 'real terms' in recent years. So all you beer lovers, sign up for the Stop The Beer Duty Escalator e-petition on the No. 10 website.(You could argue that it is still lower than it was in 1988 - ed)

It is noteworthy (really - ed), that the tax on fuel is made up of a fuel duty (tax) to which is then applied VAT (tax)! So a tax is applied to a tax! Nice graph showing that this is so.