Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979

[F136E Meaning of “small brewery beer": beer from co-operated breweriesU.K.

(1)This section applies to beer produced in a brewery at a time in a calendar year (“the current year”) when the brewery is a co-operated brewery.

(2)The beer is “small brewery beer” if the following conditions are satisfied; but this is subject to subsections (10) and (11) below.

(3)In this section—

• “the group” means the group of breweries consisting of—

  (a)

  the co-operated brewery, and

  (b)

  every brewery (other than the co-operated brewery) in which beer is produced at the time mentioned in subsection (1) above, or at any earlier time in the current year, by—

  (i)

  a person who produces beer in the co-operated brewery at the time so mentioned or at any earlier time in the current year, or

  (ii)

  a person connected with such a person;

• “group brewery” means a brewery that is in the group;

• “the previous year” means the calendar year immediately preceding the current year.

(4)The first condition is that either—

(a)no beer was produced in the previous year in the group, or

(b)the amount given by PY + GE is not more than [F360,000 hectolitres] , where—

• PY is the amount of beer produced in the previous year in the group, and

• GE is the aggregate of the grossed-up amount of each estimate that—

• (i) is an estimate for the purposes of subsection (10) below of the amount of the production in the current year in a group brewery in which no beer was produced in the previous year, and

• (ii) is made no later than the time mentioned in subsection (1) above.

(5)For the purposes of subsection (4)(b) above, where a group brewery was in use as beer-production premises during part only of the previous year, the amount of beer produced in the previous year in that brewery shall be taken to have been—

(6)The second condition is that the aggregate of each estimate that—

(a)is an estimate for the purposes of subsection (10) below of the amount of a group brewery’s production in the current year, and

(b)is made no later than the time mentioned in subsection (1) above,

is not more than [F460,000 hectolitres] .

(7)The third condition is that if any group brewery begins to be used as beer-production premises part-way through the current year, the aggregate of the grossed-up amount of each estimate that—

(a)is an estimate for the purposes of subsection (10) below of the amount of a group brewery’s production in the current year, and

(b)is made no later than the time mentioned in subsection (1) above,

is not more than [F560,000 hectolitres] .

(8)The fourth condition is that less than half of the beer produced in the previous year in each group brewery was produced under licence.

(9)The fifth condition is that the beer is not produced under licence.

(10)Beer produced in the co-operated brewery at an unestimated time is not small brewery beer; and here “unestimated time” means a time in the current year when there is a group brewery for which there does not exist a reasonable estimate, made by the person who first produces beer in that brewery in that year, of the amount of beer that will be produced in that brewery in that year.

(11)Beer produced in the co-operated brewery in the current year after the amount of beer produced in the group in the current year has reached [F660,000 hectolitres] is not small brewery beer.

(12)Subsection (11) above is without prejudice to section 167(4) of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (recovery of duty unpaid by reason of untrue document or statement).]