HMRC announces that its new alcohol production platform will not go ahead as planned
HMRC announces that its new alcohol production platform will not go ahead as planned
HMRC has confirmed that the Modernising Authorisations project, which aimed to bring new and existing applications for Customs and Excise approvals online, has been dropped following a government spending audit.
This means that an online service for alcohol production approvals will not go live on the 1 February 2025. Instead, HMRC will introduce an online application for new customers seeking production approval, those producers who already hold approval will be able to use existing routes to inform HMRC of any changes.
The published reforms to alcohol approvals will still take effect from the 1 February 2025 as planned. HMRC will migrate the approval details it holds for each alcohol producer into their new Alcoholic Products Producer Approval (APPA), and producers will be able to benefit from the new arrangements. Producers will receive their APPA ID in a letter before 25 February 2025, with guidance on how to enrol for the new returns and payment service which will take effect from 1 March 2025.
However, the online service which would have allowed existing customers to view and amend their Alcohol Products Production Approvals will not be available. HMRC will instead introduce an online application for new customers seeking production approval via GOV.UK from 4 February. Producers requesting changes to their approval will be able to contact HMRC via email at nur.alcohol@hmrc.gov.uk or by writing to the Excise Processing Team. More information is available here.
HMRC says the new returns and payment service will still be launched on 1 March 2025. Producers will need to enrol to get access to the service, and HMRC will write to all producers explaining how. If producers haven’t received this letter by 25 February 2025, they should email nru.alcohol@hmrc.gov.uk.
Matthew Clark, a customs, excise and international trade partner at BDO said:
“Understandably, this decision has caused some consternation in the industry as the platform was a welcome improvement, bringing excise approval management up to date from what was a very manual old-fashioned approach. Many operators have invested significant time and resources in preparing for the transition only to find that it’s been axed at the stroke of a pen.
“It appears many of the ambitious anticipated changes within the Modernisation of Authorisation HMRC Project now won’t go ahead including the Single Trade Window, which many viewed as making the interactions with HMRC quicker and easier, as well as reducing HMRC’s own time and efforts. Keeping it manual feels like a step in the wrong direction.
“On the upside, the introduction of two tax reliefs from 1 Feb – draught relief and small producer relief - worth some £85m will be a benefit to the industry. But one is still left with the impression of giving with one hand and taking away with the other.”
ENDS
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