Guides › Applying for approval (APPA)

How to apply for HMRC production approval (APPA) as a cider maker

Checked against GOV.UK on 2 October 2026. Written by Bradley Cadd, who runs Duty Sorted, an independent business that isn't part of HMRC. About Duty Sorted. Not tax advice: see the note at the end.

Do you need to apply?

You need an approval if you make alcoholic products, which includes cider. HMRC says "production" covers making alcohol from raw ingredients, and also any activity on a finished product that changes its strength, changes its category, or produces a different product. For cider makers GOV.UK says you must apply "even if you were exempt from seeking approval before" or "produce less than 5 hectolitres of pure alcohol in cider, and no other alcoholic products".

You don't need an approval if you only:

• hold alcoholic products, leading to a gradual change in strength;
• make additions or carry out processes as part of packaging;
• hold products in duty suspension;
• import finished products, or bottle bulk product without altering it; or
• package product made elsewhere.

There are also exemptions for making alcohol for your own domestic use (not spirits), and for research or experiments. If you were already registered or licensed before 1 February 2025, HMRC moved your registrations into one APPA and sent a letter with your APPA ID. If you don't have your ID, GOV.UK says to contact HMRC.

Sources: Check if you need an APPA and technical guide, section 4 (4.1 to 4.6). See what changed for small cider makers for the background.

Before you apply: what to get ready

• Your details and business status: sole trader, partnership, limited company or other, with your name, contact details and a correspondence address if it differs.
• Your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR), and for sole traders and partnerships, the UTR of each individual.
• The address of each premises you want approved.
• A plan of the premises (see below).
• Anyone connected to your business, and their APPA ID if they have one. "Connected" is wide: see connected businesses and SPR.
• The categories of product you'll make. HMRC says to include everything you need approval for. Cider is one category. Fruit cider and mead and cider at 8.5% or more are different categories.
• The date you plan to start production.
• An estimate of the alcohol you'll make in the 12 months from when you apply. You must note in your business records how you worked it out.
• If you'll import, export, or send or receive duty-suspended product, the categories and the approval numbers of the businesses involved.
• If someone applies for the business, their name, position and contact details.

The premises plan

GOV.UK says the plan must show the position and description of all the equipment you'll use to make and store cider. It must be:

• A4 size or smaller;
• black and white;
• with the duty-suspended areas shaded (where you'll make cider and hold it before duty is paid); and
• with fire exits clearly marked in red.

The technical guide adds that the plan should show any identifying marks on your vessels and the full address, and should clearly separate the parts used for production and for holding product in duty suspension (the "approved area"). A shop or taproom within or attached to your approved premises is not part of them: product moved there is duty-paid when it leaves the approved premises.

The estimate

HMRC's technical guide says to take "all of the relevant factors into account, including any contracts you already have to supply small producer alcoholic products and any expansion plans", and warns that knowingly stating too low a figure can let HMRC recover the duty that went unpaid. Keep a note of how you got it. The same estimate is the starting point for your Small Producer Relief: see SPR for a new business.

How to apply

1. Apply online through GOV.UK's apply for an APPA page. You sign in with a Government Gateway account, and you can create one if you don't have one.
2. The form has three sections: business and contact details; production and premises; then a final page to review and send. You can save your answers and come back to them for 28 days, and attach supporting documents.
3. Check everything before you send. Once you've submitted, you can't re-open the form online to change it. You'd need to withdraw the application, or tell HMRC about a change.
4. If you can't apply online because you object to computers on religious grounds, or can't use them because of age, disability or no internet at home, write to HMRC for a paper form.

You can also attach a business plan. HMRC says it can speed things up, especially for new producers, and in some cases it may be required. There's no checklist. It expects something proportionate to the size of the business that shows a genuine, viable business: costings, suppliers, customers, market research and forecasts.

What happens next

• HMRC checks the application is complete and clear, and asks for anything missing. Until it's satisfied, it can't process it.
• Background checks. HMRC says these include your tax compliance record, Companies House, credit reference agencies, other government bodies and a criminal records check.
• A possible visit. HMRC may visit and ask about your suppliers, customers, business plan, accounting and stock control, premises and finances.
• The timing. HMRC says it aims to process applications within 45 working days but it can take longer.

HMRC assesses whether you and anyone with an important role in the business (partners, directors, key people) are "fit and proper". In plain terms it wants to be satisfied that the business is genuine and that those involved are law-abiding and responsible with tax. Among the things it looks at are:

• previous under-declared tax or unpaid duty, seizures of duty-unpaid goods, or penalties for wrongdoing;
• relevant criminal convictions (spent convictions are normally disregarded);
• whether anyone is disqualified as a company director;
• whether you owe HMRC unmanaged debts, or have paid duty or VAT late before;
• whether the application is accurate and complete; and
• whether you have a genuine, credible plan to trade, and sensible checks on your customers and suppliers.

The list in HMRC's guide is longer, and HMRC says it isn't exhaustive. Sources: technical guide, section 4 (4.8 to 4.17).

If you're approved, refused or need more time

• Approved: HMRC sends your APPA ID (5 letters and 10 numbers, 15 characters in all) and a letter of approval listing the types of product, the activities and the premises covered, plus any conditions. Making a product or using a place that isn't listed is outside your approval.
• Refused: HMRC tells you in writing with its reasons, and you can ask for a review or appeal to the independent tribunal.
• A letter of indication: if you need more preparation, or a lender wants proof you're likely to be approved, you can ask HMRC for a letter saying it's likely to approve you once the outstanding work is done. It holds your application for 6 months.
• Duty guarantee: a first-time applicant isn't required to arrange one unless HMRC tells you to.

After approval

1. Enrol for HMRC's "Manage your Alcohol Duty" service as soon as you have your ID. You need an organisation Government Gateway account (a personal one won't work), your APPA ID, and your business postcode, Corporation Tax UTR or Self Assessment UTR. Get access to the Alcohol Duty online service has the steps.
2. File monthly returns (step by step) by the 15th and pay by the 25th, unless you qualify for the cider-only exemption for makers of 5 hectolitres or less. GOV.UK says to enrol as soon as you have your ID, so you're ready to file returns, including nil returns. See what changed for small cider makers.
3. Keep your records: everything you produce and everything leaving your premises, and, if you get Small Producer Relief, an Alcohol Production Account. See how to keep batch records.
4. Calculate your SPR rate before each production year starts: how to work out SPR.
5. Know when duty is due: cider stays in duty suspension on your approved premises until it passes the duty point. See when is Alcohol Duty due on cider.

Telling HMRC about changes

You must keep your approval up to date. HMRC says that not doing so can mean penalties and a fresh look at whether you're fit and proper. Some changes go in before they happen, and others within 14 days.

Changes can take up to 45 working days to process. Your approval lasts until you permanently stop producing. If you do, tell HMRC and settle the duty on any stock left. HMRC may visit, including without an appointment, and officers must be allowed access to any area of the approved premises.

What GOV.UK doesn't spell out

• How detailed the plan and business plan need to be for a small farm cider maker. HMRC gives no checklist and says it expects something proportionate. If your set-up is unusual, ask before you send.
• A fee. None of the GOV.UK pages we used mention a charge for applying.
• If you've already been making cider to sell. GOV.UK says that producing without approval is an offence and that you may have to pay a penalty. It doesn't say how HMRC treats someone who comes forward. Speak to HMRC rather than guess.
• Waiting times. 45 working days is a target, not a guarantee, so start before you need to.

What Duty Sorted does with this

Duty Sorted doesn't apply for your approval, hold it or check it. It's for after you have your APPA ID: you log your batches, it keeps your production-year total and shows your Small Producer Relief band, and it sets out your monthly return figures in the order HMRC's service asks for them. You still enrol in HMRC's service and submit your returns there yourself.

This guide is general information, not tax advice, and HMRC's requirements and online services can change. Check the GOV.UK pages linked above and ask HMRC or your adviser if you're unsure whether you need approval or how to complete the application. Duty Sorted is independent and is not made or approved by HMRC.