The usual round of excise duty increases on booze and tobacco came with the, now, usual news that duty on spirits is frozen - for the seventh year running. Less cheer for bubbly, the increase in duty on sparkling wine acts to increase the duty differential between fizz and ordinary plonk.
Smokers were hit again (as usual) but Gordon Brown was also trying a bit of social engineering. As well as hiking up tax payable on cigarettes by 11 pence a box in Budget 2007 , he has provided further incentives for smokers to kick the habit by reducing the VAT payable on 'smoking cessation' products such as nicotine patches and smoking pens.
The reduced rate of 5% will apply for one year and will take effect alongside the introduction of the ban on smoking in public places scheduled for 1 July this year. Smoking cessation products that are dispensed on a prescription remain zero-rated.
Online gaming companies are to pay a 15% remote gaming duty. This is considerably higher than the industry hoped for. It is difficult to see any operators moving onshore and volunteering for it.
However, VAT will not be charged on remote participation fees on bingo, poker and betting exchanges, which means they will retain their advantage over UK based bricks and mortar bookmakers and casino operators.
For those who prefer to do their gambling down the pub, there was a round of increases in the size of jackpots that slot machines are allowed to offer. For example, machines charging 5-50p will now be able to offer a maximum jackpot of £35, up from £25.
Bad news for the bingo halls, there was no mention of a tax cut for bingo operators, who were hoping to offset the negative impact of the coming smoking ban.
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