The Scotch Whisky Association has demanded fair treatment over duty after claiming to be the one of the most highly taxed products in the UK.
The industry Scotland’s premier export success story said above-inflation increases in excise duty were putting pressure on domestic business, and called for parity with other parts of the drinks industry.
The SWA said the UK whisky market had shown a 12% decline in volumes since HM Treasury introduced the alcohol duty escalator in 2008, and a 21% fall on the same figure a decade ago.
But it said it had been “unfair” for the Chancellor to single out one part of the drinks industry by removing the duty escalator from beer last year.
“Some 79% of the average price of a bottle of Scotch Whisky is now made up of tax and VAT,” the SWA said in a statement.
It highlighted independent research by professional services firm E&Y, which has shown scrapping the escalator could create 6,000 jobs and deliver £230 million in extra revenue to the UK’s public finances during 2014.
SWA chief executive David Frost has met economic secretary to the Treasury Nicky Morgan to discuss the issue.
“We hope the government will listen to our concerns about the negative impact of the alcohol duty escalator and agree that enough is enough,” he said.