Guides › Draught Relief
Draught Relief explained for cider makers
Checked against GOV.UK on 1 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.
The short version
- Draught Relief gives you a lower rate of Alcohol Duty on products in large containers meant for dispensing on tap.
- The container must hold at least 20 litres and be designed to connect to a qualifying dispense system. Bag-in-box and gravity-dispensed casks count.
- The product must be under 8.5% ABV. See what happens at 8.5%.
- If you qualify for Small Producer Relief too, you take your SPR discount off the draught rate.
- If the product is later repackaged into bottles or cans, the relief is lost and you owe the full rate.
What counts as draught?
HMRC's technical guide says a large draught container must:
- have a capacity of at least 20 litres; and
- be designed to be connected to a qualifying system for dispensing individual drinks.
It adds that "a qualifying dispense system includes bag-in-box formats and containers using gravity dispense through mechanisms like cask taps". HMRC's shorter "can I pay less duty on draught?" page describes the container as one that can connect to a pump system or a gas-pressurised drinks tap. A 20-litre bag-in-box, a keg and a cask can all fit, if they meet the size and design test.
The strength rule is the same for every drink: less than 8.5% ABV. Cider (including perry) and "other fermented products" such as fruit cider and mead are all covered.
Sources: Check if you can pay less Alcohol Duty on draught products and technical guide, section 12.
What doesn't qualify
- Smaller containers. Bottles, cans and containers under 20 litres pay the full rate. So do containers that aren't designed to connect to a dispense system.
- Product repackaged into bottles or cans after you've paid the draught rate. It no longer qualifies, so you owe the difference. HMRC says to declare it as an underdeclaration from a previous period.
- Take-away sales. HMRC says: "where draught products are intended for take-away sale (and therefore not immediately consumed on premises) then the full rate of Alcohol Duty should be paid." It also says repackaging draught product into a container for take-away is prohibited. For when duty falls due on product you release, see when is Alcohol Duty due on cider.
Pouring draught product into a glass at a bar or taproom is different: HMRC says that "is not classified as repackaging as the alcoholic product is served for immediate consumption on those premises."
Draught Relief and Small Producer Relief together
They stack. HMRC's guide says: "If you also qualify for Small Producer Relief, you should subtract the Small Producer Relief discount from the draught rate." There is a separate SPR lookup table for draught products, so your discount can be a different figure from your non-draught discount. Both come from your same annual production figure (see how to work out SPR).
The difference, with today's rates
The same cider, 1000 litres at 6.0%, from a producer whose annual production figure is 11.2 hectolitres, using the rates in force from 1 February 2026:
| In bottles | Draught (20 L bag-in-box or keg) | |
|---|---|---|
| Tax type code | 367 | 377 |
| Full rate per litre of pure alcohol | £10.39 | £8.95 |
| SPR discount | −£6.10 | −£5.26 |
| Your rate | £4.29 | £3.69 |
| Duty on this batch | £257.40 | £221.40 |
Worked out by the same calculation Duty Sorted uses, with the current published tables, so it updates when the rates change each February. Try your own numbers in the free calculator: tick Draught to compare. For the duty in a single pint or bottle, see duty per pint, bottle and can.
Recording it properly
- Mark each batch draught or not in your records. A batch that's part bottled and part bag-in-box is two lines: the litres in qualifying containers, and the litres in bottles.
- Draught and non-draught products have different tax type codes, so they go on separate lines of your return.
- If you later bottle something you've already declared as draught, correct it in your next return. See how to keep batch records.
Let Duty Sorted sort the draught from the bottles
Tick draught on a batch, and Duty Sorted uses the right rate and SPR table, and puts it on the right line of your monthly return. £15 a month after a 14-day free trial, no card needed to start.
This guide is general information, not tax advice, and rules and rates can change. Check the GOV.UK pages linked above and ask HMRC or your adviser if you're unsure whether a container qualifies. Duty Sorted is independent and is not made or approved by HMRC.