Labour’s Proposed Cider Tax Postponed

Despite the Tories claiming that they have managed to see off the 10% tax increase on cider, the massive tax hike has merely ben postponed, dependent on which party wins the election in May. Labour have insisted they will revisit the issue if they win the election.

The tax on cider along with a couple of other tax rises were dropped as Ministers had to rush through the Finance Bill after Gordon Brown confirmed the General Election would be on 6th May.

There was strong opposition to the tax hike by apple growers, cider producers and cider drinkers. Campaigns to drop the tax on Facebook were joined by over 50,000 people and the cider tax became a hot topic on Twitter. Campaigners launched further attacks on the Government by asking cider drinkers to get the 1976 hit by ‘The Wurzels’, aptly named ‘I am a cider drinker’ to number one.

The proposed tax hike also saw the creation of The Cider Party in Somerset, who’s main goal was to campaign against the tax increase.

Cider producers attacked the Government over the tax, accusing Alistair Darling of just trying to cash in on a successful business under the guise of tackling binge drinking. Industry leaders warned that the tax hike would mean that cider businesses would struggle as they would have no budget to reinvest into their business and traditional English cider companies would suffer.

Farmers also saw another small victory when the Government also had to backtrack on proposed plans to increase tax on furnished holiday lettings in order to push through the Finance Bill. Such a tax increase would hit farmers hard as many relied on income from their farm cottages to subsidise the costs of running the farm.

However, should Labour manage to scrape through a victory then both these tax increases are likely to be back on the agenda and the rural economy but under even more pressure.