Posted: Monday, 23 January 2017 @ 15:21
Why should licensees be concerned with red tape affecting wholesalers of alcohol? Because if they buy from a wholesaler who is not registered they could face a fine of up to £10K!
The Alcohol Wholesalers Registration Scheme requires those UK business who sell alcohol to other business at or after the duty point to obtain HMRC approval under the scheme from 1 January 2016. And from 1 April 2017 trade buyers from UK wholesalers for resale to customers must make sure that the wholesalers are registered.
Approved wholesalers will have a unique reference number (URN) and from 1 April 2017 this must be supplied to customers and be included on all wholesale alcohol sale invoices. So trade buyers should as a matter of due diligence check on-line for the wholesalers URN, and check for it when they receive the invoices.
For more details see the HMRC Excise Notice 2002 which can be found here.
From 1 April 2017 it is an offence to knowingly buy alcohol wholesale from a person who should be approved. Penalties can include a fine, imprisonment up to 7 years, or both.
So beware!
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