Glossary · Law and labelling
Small producer relief
Definition
A United Kingdom duty relief giving reduced rates to producers whose annual production falls below a stated threshold, tapering as production rises.
- Subject
- Law and labelling
In more detail
The relief replaced the older exemption that allowed the smallest cider makers to produce below a volume threshold without paying duty at all. The change was significant for farm-scale producers, and the current thresholds and rates are matters for HMRC guidance rather than for a glossary.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Law and labelling
Duty band
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.
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.
Cider
Farmhouse cider
Cider made on the farm that grew the fruit, traditionally in small volumes for the farm’s own use and local sale, and by extension any cider made in that manner.
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.