How much does beer tax cost you?

On Monday (March 16) key players in the trade are due to speak to the Chancellor about the severe impact high alcohol duty is having on people running pubs.

The British Beer & Pub Association's (BBPA) chairman Michael Turner will speak about the issue, while other drinks trade groups will also plead with Alistair Darling not to increase alcohol duty further.

Whether the conversations will make any difference in the upcoming Budget remains to be seen.

But the fact that a Chancellor has agreed to meet drinks industry chiefs ahead of a Budget is unprecedented in recent times.

BBPA communications director Mark Hastings said tax was "by far the most important" issue currently affecting the industry.

"The government says it wants to stand up for business and jobs, so if it's going to live up to that it needs to respond positively to the industry's call for a freeze on tax," he said. "There is real political attention being focused on the future of pubs."Licensees' cry for help

What is clear is that many licensees are desperate for some form of help with the amount they are forced to charge for a pint.

After news of the meeting with Alistair Darling broke, The Publican contacted the BBPA, which agreed to pass on correspondence from licensees unhappy with the situation.

Since then we have had a steady stream of letters and emails from licensees keen to have their say to the Chancellor.

Some blame other factors apart from duty hikes, such as cut-price supermarket deals, red tape, the smoking ban and the pubco model. But the one thing that unites them all is the passion they still have for pubs as a great British institution.

At the Crown Hotel in Brighouse, West Yorkshire, Colin and Anne Brown have been asking customers to sign a petition calling for an end to "super high" taxes. Colin says at the moment "every day is a struggle without job satisfaction or monetary gain".

And Barbara Darlaston at the Plough and Sail in Lowestoft, Suffolk, asks: "Why is this Labour government doing everything possible to put hard-working publicans out of business?

"They are penalising us over binge-drinking, but it's the supermarkets they should be looking at, isn't it?"

Still time to make a difference

The Budget is more than a month away, so there's still time to have your say on the duty issue.

The industry's Axe the Beer Tax - Save the Pub campaign has now attracted more than 28,000 members on Facebook, and thousands of emails have also been sent to MPs via the page.

In addition 172 MPs have signed a parliamentary motion backing the campaign.

To join the campaign visit: www.axebeertax.co.uk

Another easy way to lobby your MP is via the Parliament website. Just visit www.parliament.uk, then click on the 'Contact' button. Here you can enter your postcode to get full contact details for your local MP.

Could cask beer get special treatment?

Many in the trade argue that cask ale should be taxed differently from other, higher-strength, types of alcohol.

Licensees feel this system would help them out.

Carol Haime at the Sandrock in Farnham, Surrey, said: "Would it not make sense for the government to offer some tax concession on real ale, especially if it were sourced from a local brewery?

"Real ale dispensed by hand pump is not available anywhere other than in pubs and yet the tax is crippling us. The 'binge-drinkers' that the government are keen to curb are not ale drinkers."

And Keith Bott, president of the Society of Independent Brewers, put this case to government ministers at the pub crisis summit meeting in Parliament, calling for a more "equitable" tax system based on a product's ABV.

At the same meeting, Treasury minister Angela Eagle said she was "anxious" to look at the issue, but added that there were currently "EU kinks" which prevent the government from giving special dispensation to cask beer.

One glimmer of hope on this issue though, is that the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has met with European Commission representatives as part of a bid to make sure a lower rate of VAT applies to draught beer.

The word in the pub

We often hear from trade chiefs and licensees about the impact of high beer duty - but what does it mean to customers? Jamie Clifton asked people in the pub.

Iysha Kelly, 19 from Letchworth, Hertfordshire

Do you know how much duty the Chancellor takes on a pint of beer? ​

40 per cent? Probably a lot higher than it should be.

Are you put off drinking beer in pubs by its price? ​

No, it's only a little bit more expensive but it's a lot nicer paying a bit more to sit in a pub where it's more lively compared with just drinking at home.

Do you visit pubs more or less often than a year ago? ​

Probably less, I have had less money though so I normally wait until student discount hours or go on nights where there are cheap drinks.

Dr. Gordon Yuill, 60 from Wallington, Surrey

Do you know how much duty the Chancellor takes on a pint of beer?​

Around a third. People tend to blame Gordon Brown, but it's Darling who's causing the rise in beer prices.

Are you put off drinking beer in pubs by its price? ​

No, it probably makes you drink less but I'll still go anyway to be honest, you can't replicate the taste of cask ale from a good pub.

Do you visit pubs more or less often than a year ago? ​

About the same, 20 years ago I wouldn't have thought twice, but as small as it is a pint of bitter has gone up 10p where I drink in the last year and it's supposed to continue rising over the next five years, so it could make a difference.

James Darton, 21, from York

Do you know how much duty the Chancellor takes on a pint of beer​? About a third isn't it? Apparently Alistair Darling's going to raise it though.

Are you put off drinking beer in pubs by its price? ​No not really, I still prefer going to the pub to drink because you can play pool or listen to music and it's just more satisfying getting your pint pulled from a pump rather than out of a can.

Do you visit pubs more or less often than a year ago?​ A bit less, I've been trying to save money by going to the cheap nights with discount drinks rather than to the same pub every night like I was at the end of last year. Vinda Collins, 56, from Hampenden End

Do you know how much duty the Chancellor takes on a pint of beer? ​

I would say about a third goes to Mr Darling.

Are you put off drinking beer in pubs by its price? ​

No, absolutely not. There would have to be an earthquake to stop me from going to the pub!

Do you visit pubs more or less often than a year ago? ​

Exactly the same amount if not a bit more.