Glossary · Law and labelling
Duty band
Also written strength band. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
A range of alcoholic strength within which a single rate of alcohol duty applies. The United Kingdom moved to a strength-based banded system in 2023, so a small change in ABV can change the tax substantially.
- Subject
- Law and labelling
- Also written
- strength band
In more detail
Because the bands are stepped rather than continuous, producers have a strong incentive to formulate just below a threshold, which shapes the strengths that appear on shelves. CiderHQ does not publish specific rates: they change at fiscal events, and a stale rate is worse than none.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Law and labelling
Small producer relief
A United Kingdom duty relief giving reduced rates to producers whose annual production falls below a stated threshold, tapering as production rises.
Law and labelling
Draught relief
A reduced United Kingdom duty rate for qualifying products packaged in large containers for dispense on licensed premises, intended to favour on-trade draught sales over packaged retail.
Law and labelling
Alcohol by volume
The proportion of a drink’s volume that is pure ethanol at 20 degrees Celsius, expressed as a percentage. It is the figure labelling law requires on drinks above 1.2 per cent.
Law and labelling
Made-wine
A United Kingdom excise category for fermented alcoholic drinks that are neither beer, cider, perry nor wine of fresh grapes. A cider that fails the juice-content or strength tests is taxed as made-wine.
Law and labelling
Apparent juice content
The proportion of a cider that is treated as having come from apple juice, calculated for excise purposes from the product’s composition rather than measured directly at the mill.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Alcoholic products duty rates and the Alcohol Duty regime
HM Revenue & Customs · regulator · passage verified 2026-08-24
The UK alcohol duty system was reformed in August 2023 onto a strength-based footing, with draught relief and small producer relief alongside it. The rate table was read on 2026-08-24 and carries an effective date of 1 February 2026. CiderHQ records the band *structure* — which is stable and explains why producers make the strengths they do — and states rates only with that effective date attached, because a rate with no date on it becomes permanent and wrong.