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How to fill in your monthly Alcohol Duty return, step by step

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.

Before you start

• You need to be enrolled. Enrol in the service as soon as you have your APPA ID. It needs an organisation Government Gateway account. Get access to the Alcohol Duty online service has the steps.
• Check you need to file. A maker of cider only, who made 5 hectolitres of alcohol or less last calendar year and expects the same this year, doesn't have to submit a return. See what changed for small cider makers. Everyone else files every month, including a nil return when nothing is due.
• Know which cider goes on which month. It's the month the cider passed its duty point: when is Alcohol Duty due on cider.
• Have your figures ready, grouped by tax type code. Keep batch records and this takes minutes.

What HMRC asks for

GOV.UK says you use the return to tell HMRC about:

• total litres of finished alcoholic products;
• total litres of pure alcohol, grouped by strength band;
• products you under-declared or over-declared in a past return;
• products you need to claim drawback on, and product that's spoilt;
• repackaged draught products; and
• whether you're eligible for Small Producer Relief or the draught rate, and any duty suspended products you've imported, exported, delivered or received.

The strength bands on the return are 1.3% to 3.4%, 3.5% to 8.4%, 8.5% to 22% and 22.1% or above. Pure alcohol is the volume in litres times the strength, divided by 100. For cider, most products fall in the 3.5% to 8.4% band. See what changes at 8.5%.

Source: Submit your Alcohol Duty return.

A worked month

Here is a made-up cider maker's month, worked out by the same code that Duty Sorted uses, with today's rates and an annual production figure of 20 hectolitres for Small Producer Relief. These four batches all passed their duty point in September 2026:

On HMRC's first screen you'd tick Cider and Other fermented products, because the 9.0% product isn't cider for duty. Then you'd enter these entries, one for each tax type code at one rate. Batches with the same code and rate are added together.

Cider

Other fermented products

Total duty for this return: £843.48. The return is due by 15 October 2026, and the duty by 25 October 2026.

For the tax type codes with Small Producer Relief, the service asks for your SPR rate, and the duty is that many litres of pure alcohol times the rate, rounded down to the penny. For codes without SPR, it uses the standard or draught rate itself. Worked out with the same calculation Duty Sorted uses, so the example updates when rates change each February.

Screen by screen

These are the screens as they appear in HMRC's service on 2 October 2026, taken from HMRC's published service text. HMRC can change them, so go by what you see.

1. "Submit your Alcohol Duty return" is the start page. It leads to a task list, "Complete your Alcohol Duty return", which names the period, tells you to send the return on or before the due date, and says how long it will save your answers. You must complete every section before you can send. There's a button to clear the return and start again.
2. Declare alcoholic products for duty. The screen "Declaring alcoholic products for duty" explains the strength bands and the reliefs. Then:
   • "Which types of alcoholic products do you need to declare?": tick all that apply. Anything you don't tick is reported as nil. For cider that's Cider, and Other fermented products if you have fruit cider, mead, cider at 8.5% or more, or sparkling cider over 5.5%.
   • "What do you need to declare?": tick the tax type codes that apply, and note the description beside each. They split by strength band, and by standard rate, draught, Small Producer Relief, or both.
   • "Tell us about the cider you need to declare": total litres of cider (to 2 decimal places) and litres of pure alcohol (to 4 decimal places), for each standard and draught code.
   • "Tell us about the cider that is eligible for Small Producer Relief": the same two figures, plus your Small Producer Relief duty rate (to 2 decimal places).
   • "If you have more than one Small Producer Relief duty rate": if one tax type code has more than one SPR rate (for example, stock made in an earlier production year is released now), say yes and enter each rate as its own entry.
   • "Check your answers": you'll see the description, total volume and pure alcohol for each entry. Check them against your own figures.
3. Declare adjustments from earlier returns. "Declare adjustments from earlier returns" is where you tell HMRC about changes to past returns: products you under-declared or over-declared (you may be asked why), cider that has since spoilt, repackaged draught, and products exported that you can claim drawback on. If you don't have any, say so.
4. Report duty suspended deliveries. "Have you delivered or received finished alcoholic products under duty suspense?" If you've moved product to or from another approved producer or an excise warehouse, you enter it by type of alcohol. See when duty is due for what duty suspension means.
5. Report spirits production. This is for spirits producers, every three months. Cider makers don't need it.
6. Send return. The screen "The duty due for this return is …" shows how HMRC worked it out and a final duty summary: duty declared for each type, plus any adjustments. Check it. By sending, you confirm the information is complete and correct. If the return comes to nothing, it says no duty is due. If it comes to a negative amount (from adjustments), you can claim it back after sending, and if you don't, HMRC deducts it from your next return.
7. "Return sent". You get a return reference (14 characters, GOV.UK says) and the amount to pay. Use the reference to pay. Pay by the 25th, or you'll be charged interest.

Sources: Submit your Alcohol Duty return, technical guide, section 5, and the screen text of HMRC's returns service.

Mistakes that cause trouble

• Pure alcohol bigger than the litres. HMRC's service won't accept it: litres of pure alcohol must be the same as or less than the total litres, and more than zero.
• Too many decimal places. Total litres to 2 decimal places, pure alcohol to 4, SPR rate to 2.
• The wrong category. Cider at 8.5% or more, fruit cider, and sparkling cider over 5.5% are not "cider" rates. See which category is yours.
• One SPR rate where there are two. Stock made in an earlier production year keeps that year's rate.
• Declaring cider in the wrong month. It goes on the return for the month it passed the duty point, not the month you made it.
• Forgetting a nil return. If you must file and have nothing to declare, you still file. Missing a deadline, including for a nil return, can mean a penalty, interest or both.

If you file late, or get it wrong

GOV.UK says HMRC can charge a penalty for a late return, an inaccurate return with errors, and late payment, as well as interest if you don't pay by the 25th. HMRC can also estimate the duty that would have been due and pursue the debt through the civil courts. If you can't file online because you object to computers on religious grounds, or can't use them because of age, disability or having no internet at home, you can ask HMRC to submit on paper.

Can you upload a file or use software?

As far as we can find, no. GOV.UK describes the return as completed in the online service. We found no file upload in HMRC's service, and HMRC's developer hub (checked on 2 October 2026) lists excise APIs only for warehouse declarations (such as the W1 return) and for moving goods under duty suspension (EMCS), and none for Alcohol Duty returns. So there is no file you can upload, and no software that can submit your return for you. Software can only work out and organise the figures for you to type in. If HMRC adds a route, we'll update this guide.

Sources: Submit your Alcohol Duty return and HMRC Developer Hub API list.

What GOV.UK doesn't spell out

• How to round. HMRC asks for total litres to 2 decimal places and pure alcohol to 4, but doesn't say which way to round. The duty itself is rounded down to the penny.
• Whether the deadlines move for weekends or bank holidays. GOV.UK doesn't say. Don't leave it to the last day.
• Whether the screens will stay as they are. We describe HMRC's service as it is today. If a screen differs, trust the screen.

What Duty Sorted does with this

• For each month, it sets out your figures in the order HMRC's screens ask for them: the types to tick, the tax type codes, and the total litres, pure alcohol and SPR rate for each entry, with the duty HMRC should work out.
• You can download the figures as a summary, a spreadsheet with one row per return entry, and a spreadsheet showing how each batch was worked out. They're for keeping and for copying from. Nothing can be uploaded to HMRC.
• It also makes a printable filing worksheet for each month: a checklist that follows HMRC's screens in order, with the month's figures filled in, tick boxes, and space for the sections it doesn't work out (adjustments, duty suspended deliveries). Print it and work down it while you fill in HMRC's service.
• It doesn't submit anything to HMRC. You type the figures into HMRC's service and send the return yourself, so you see everything before it goes.
• It covers the "Declare alcoholic products for duty" section. It reminds you about adjustments, duty suspended deliveries and spirits reporting, but doesn't work them out.

This guide is general information, not tax advice, and HMRC's service can change. Check the GOV.UK pages linked above and every figure before you send your return. You are responsible for it. Duty Sorted is independent and is not made or approved by HMRC.