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Alcohol Duty for small cider makers: what changed in 2025

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.

What changed

Small cider makers used to be treated differently from everyone else. Makers producing under 70 hectolitres of cider a year did not need an approval from HMRC to produce. HMRC's own notes to the 2024 regulations confirm that this ended: from 1 February 2025 they must apply for approval, and describe it as the first time these makers have had to (see the explanatory memorandum, section 9.3).

Behind this, HMRC replaced the separate registrations and licences for beer, cider, wine, spirits and other fermented drinks with one approval for all producers, one monthly return, and one payment date.

Do I need an approval?

Yes, if you make cider. GOV.UK says: "If you're a cidermaker you'll need to apply for an APPA, even if you were exempt from seeking approval before." That applies even if you make under 5 hectolitres of pure alcohol in cider and nothing else. Apply before you start producing.

Businesses that already held a registration or licence before 1 February 2025 were moved across automatically. Start here: check if you need an APPA, then apply for one. Our step-by-step: how to apply for an APPA as a cider maker.

Returns and payments

Which cider goes on which month's return? See when is Alcohol Duty due on cider, and how to fill in the return itself.

• One return a month covering all your products and premises, filed online through HMRC's Manage your Alcohol Duty service.
• The return is due by the 15th of the month.
• Duty is to be paid by the 25th of the month after the end of the return period.
• Even in a month when you owe nothing or released nothing, you still submit a return to say so (a "nil return"), unless the exemption below applies to you.

Who doesn't have to file returns?

HMRC's technical guide says you don't have to submit a return if all of these are true:

1. you produce cider products only;
2. you produced 5 hectolitres or less of alcohol in the previous year; and
3. you estimate you'll produce 5 hectolitres or less in the current year, across all your premises.

Five hectolitres of pure alcohol is 500 litres. As a rough guide, that's about 8,300 litres of cider at 6% (litres × ABV ÷ 100 gives litres of pure alcohol). Once you go over, the exemption stops and you file monthly returns. HMRC expects you to keep checking your production each year.

Source: Alcoholic products technical guide, section 5.

Is your drink actually cider?

HMRC's definition of cider is strict. Fruit cider, cider at 8.5% ABV or more, and sparkling cider above 5.5% are charged at the much higher "other fermented product" rate. See fruit cider, mead and other fermented products, and what changes at 8.5% ABV.

Small Producer Relief

If you make less than 4,500 hectolitres of pure alcohol a year, drinks under 8.5% ABV can get a lower rate of duty. Most cider qualifies. The discount is bigger the less you produce, and it comes from tables published by HMRC. The guide How to work out Small Producer Relief walks through it with a real example.

Starting out? See SPR for a new business. Want the duty per bottle or pint? See duty on a pint, bottle or can. Selling on keg or bag-in-box? See Draught Relief explained. If you own or are connected to another producer, read connected businesses and SPR.

A quick checklist

1. Do you have an APPA? If not, apply before you produce any more.
2. Work out your production in pure alcohol, not just litres, across your whole production year (1 February to 31 January).
3. Are you cider only, and at or under 5 hectolitres? Then you may not need to file, but check each year.
4. Otherwise, put the 15th (return) and 25th (payment) in your calendar.
5. Keep a record of each batch: product, ABV, litres, date made. It's what every figure in the return is built from. See how to keep batch records.

This guide is general information, not tax advice, and rules and rates can change. Check the links to GOV.UK and your own records before you submit a return. Duty Sorted is independent and is not made or approved by HMRC.