Series details: CRDA/19

The beer duty dataset is a record of beer duty paid in the United Kingdom and of those brewers obliged to register under Sections 41A and 47 of the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 and hold beer without payment of duty.

In the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979, the definition of 'beer' includes ale, porter, stout, black beer and any other description of beer, including liquor sold as a description of beer, and any liquor which is made or sold as a description of beer or as a substitute for beer which is of a strength exceeding 0.5%. This includes mixtures of beer with non-alcoholic liquors, or substances where the final product strength does not exceed 5.5%. It does not include black beer made from worts at a gravity of 1200 degrees or more before fermentation and duty is not chargeable on beer that does not exceed 1.2%. Duty is charged on beer imported into the United Kingdom or brewed in the United Kingdom. Anyone who produces or holds beer in duty suspension must be registered as a brewer. The only circumstances where exemption from registration is permitted is in the case where beer is brewed for domestic use only, and for the purposes of research or experiments in the production of beer.

Duty is based on the quantity and alcoholic strength of beer, and the rate of duty applicable when it passes the duty point. Beer becomes liable for duty once it has been produced, or when it is imported into the United Kingdom. However until the 1st June 1993, duty on beer was computed on the quantity and the original gravity of worts (the still unfermented infusion of malt and other materials), or the quantity of worts of an original gravity of 1055 degrees deemed to have been brewed from the materials used. The worts were collected in officially gauged vessels and the brewer declared quantity and gravity in a brewing book, on which the duty charge was calculated. The brewers declaration was verified by an officer who used a graduated dip rod at a particular dipping place and determined the gravity of the liquor with the use of the saccharometer. Since June 1993 beer duty has been charged on the end product i.e. on the quantity and alcoholic strength of the beer produced.

Duty on imported beer is now charged either at the time of importation or when it is cleared from a registered premises or an excise warehouse. If duty is paid on importation the total volume actually imported in litres and the alcohol by volume (ABV) expressed as a percentage to 0.1% must be shown on the import document. If the ABV is not known a sample is taken for analysis in advance of the full declaration. HM Customs and Excise must be advised in writing at the port of importation, of the full name and address of the importer, location of the beer to be sampled and all other details. Imported beer delivered for home consumption is also subject to the same licensing control as the home product. Brewers, like distillers are required to be licensed and pay licence duty according to the amount produced. The brewer must declare the quantity of material they intend to use.

The Beer Duty system was developed by the Information Systems section of HM Customs and Excise as well as the North West Collection IS Projects Team with discussions taking place with the Beer Duty Seat staff. Following the Fundamental Expenditure Review in 1995, the boundaries of the Collections changed. This meant that the arrangement of the data held within the Beer Duty system was considerably affected. As well as the old Collection record, a new record was set up indicating the new Collections. As a result, the original Data Ease dataset for the North West Collection was adapted in December 1995 when a draft version of a replacement system was designed. This was written in Microsoft Access version 2, the new Departmental standard database software program. This system was further adapted with the introduction of the new EX46(VAT) form.

The Beer duty system was developed by the Information Systems section of HM Customs and Excise.

The function of the Beer Duty System was to record the receipt of monthly returns of Beer Duty(Ex46) owed by registered brewers, and to make this information available to control officers on a nationwide basis. It also controlled the collection of VAT due on beer (EX46(VAT)) which is VAT due on alcoholic beverages under the Value Added Tax Act (VATA) Section 18. The system also provided statistics to those other sections of HM Customs and Excise which needed the information. Various reports produced by the Beer duty system include those showing the statistics for all the brewer returns in a particular collection/country in a specified period; all outstanding returns for brewers; beer duty statistics for the UK in specified collections. The system also produces Registration Certificates and both blank EX46 and EX46(VAT).

It is anticipated that the records from the Beer Duty dataset will be transferred to NDAD at five yearly intervals.

The Beer Duty dataset and its related documentation are public records under the Public Records Acts, 1958 and 1967. The National Archives has assigned the series reference CUST 134 to this dataset.

Access to the Beer Duty dataset is restricted under the Finance Act, 1989, section 182. An LCI for a closure period of 75 years has been granted.

The Beer duty dataset transferred to NDAD is subject to Crown Copyright. Documents relating to the dataset are Crown Copyright unless otherwise stated in the Dataset Documentation Catalogue. Copies of datasets and documents may be made for private study and research purposes only.

The Beer Duty Dataset is subject to registration under the Data Protection Act but subject access is not permitted. This exemption is claimed under Part IV of the Act which relates to Crime and Taxation exemptions.

The language of the materials is English.

Documents relating to the Beer Duty Dataset have been transferred to NDAD and are listed in the Dataset Documentation Catalogue

An on-line version of Notice 226, Beer Duty April 1997, can be found via the HM Customs and Excise website. It explains the effects of the law and regulations covering the production, storage and accounting for duty on beer.

The Beer Duty system was run on IBM-compatible PCs.

The operating system used at the time of the first transfer to NDAD (ie late 1998) was MS-DOS, version 6.2 and Windows version 3.11, running on a Novell network. In 2002 it was running under Windows NT 4.

The earlier version of the Beer Duty System used a DataEase, version 4.53 database. This was developed during 1995 and 1996 and migrated to a Microsoft Access, version 2.0 database.1 In 2002, the Beer Duty System migrated to Access 2000.

For information about the user interface please consult the Dataset Documentation Catalogue.

For further information relating to structure and schema for the Beer Duty System, see each dataset catalogue via Links to dataset catalogues.

The Beer Duty System held by the North-West Collection Beer Duty Seat is dynamic, in the sense that new information is entered into the existing database.

The data was input via on-screen forms. Methods of internal validation were carried out such as sample checking of data entry and the use of repeating questions.2 When a registration was set up on the system they were issued with a unique reference number and accounting number. All details of the registration and addresses were set up on file. As each period of returns was set up on the system the details are drawn from these records.

Details of the content and transformation validation checks performed by NDAD on the Beer Duty datasets are contained in the catalogues of individual datasets: see Links to dataset catalogues.

Dataset catalogues provide more detailed information about individual datasets, and are currently available for the following dataset(s):

1. See the Beer Duty System User Guide, Dataset Documentation Catalogue reference CRDA/19/DD/5/2, p 1.

2. CRDA/19 dataset transfer form, section 3-6