Configuring duty rates for third-party breweries

When you receive beer from another brewery, you may need to configure how the duty is calculated and who is responsible for paying it. Breww supports several duty arrangements for both contract brewed batches (where another brewery brews on your behalf) and guest beers (finished products you purchase from a supplier and resell).

This guide explains how to set up the duty configuration for third-party breweries so that Breww calculates the correct duty rate.

Duty payment options

Both contract brewers and guest beer suppliers can be configured with one of the following duty payment options:

  • We pay the duty at our duty rate -- The duty is calculated using your own brewery's production volumes and SPR rate. This is the default.

  • We pay the duty at their duty rate -- The duty is calculated using the third-party brewery's production volumes and their SPR rate. You will need to enter their annual production totals (see below).

  • We pay the duty at the full duty rate -- The duty is calculated at the full (non-SPR) rate, regardless of production volumes.

  • Partner brewery is liable for the duty (brewed under their licence) -- The third-party brewery pays the duty themselves. The stock comes in duty-paid and no further duty is payable by you.

Contract brewed batches

When another brewery brews on your behalf, you configure the duty arrangement on the contract brewer record.

Setting up a contract brewer's duty configuration

  1. Go to Production -> View -> Contract brewers.

  2. Select the contract brewer you want to configure, or create a new one with New contract brewer.

  3. Click Edit on the contract brewer record.

  4. In the Contract brewer and packager options section, set the Contract brewer duty payment option to the appropriate option.

  5. Click Save.

    The duty payment option set on the contract brewer record will be the default for all batches created with that contract brewer. You can also override the duty payment option on individual batches when starting them.

Entering their annual production totals

If you selected "We pay the duty at their duty rate", Breww needs the third-party brewery's annual production volumes to calculate the correct SPR rate. Breww calculates the rate from these volumes -- you do not enter a rate directly.

  1. Go to the contract brewer's record (via Production -> View -> Contract brewers -> select the brewer).

  2. Click Edit.

  3. Scroll down to the Annual production totals section. You will see rows for different duty years.

  4. For each relevant year, enter:

    • Actual total -- The actual Hectolitres of Pure Alcohol (HLPA) produced by the third-party brewery in that year.

    • Estimated total -- The estimated HLPA production for the year.

  5. Click Save.

    Breww uses these figures in the same way as HMRC's Small Producer Relief calculator: the previous year's actual production determines the rate band, and the current year's estimate confirms eligibility for SPR (must be under 4,500 HLPA).

Viewing a contract brewer's production totals

You can view the production totals that have been entered for a contract brewer on their detail page. Go to the contract brewer record and look for the Annual production totals card on the overview tab. This shows the year, actual volume, and estimated volume for each duty period.

Guest beer suppliers

When you purchase finished beer from a supplier and resell it, the duty configuration is managed on the supplier record.

Configuring guest beer duty on a supplier

  1. Go to the supplier's record in Breww.

  2. Click Edit.

  3. Scroll down to the Guest beer duty options section (this section is only visible when the record is set up as a supplier).

  4. Set the Guest beer supplier duty payment option to the appropriate option.

  5. If the duty payment option involves duty suspense, you will also see a Duty suspended origin field. Set this to indicate which country the duty-suspended stock was received from.

  6. Click Save.

    The duty option set on the supplier will apply as the default for all guest beer stock items from that supplier. You can also override the duty setting on individual guest beer stock items via the Supplier duty setting option on the stock item's Suppliers tab.

Important notes

  • Breww calculates duty rates from production volumes using the HMRC formula. You do not enter a specific duty rate per hectolitre directly.

  • When duty rate changes are announced by HMRC (for example, the annual February rate changes), Breww automatically applies the new rates. However, the rate for a specific third-party brewery depends on their production volumes, so ensure these are kept up to date.

  • Changes to production volumes will trigger a recalculation of any in-progress duty returns that use those figures.

  • Your own brewery's production volumes are managed separately in Beer duty -> Annual estimate & settings. This guide only covers third-party brewery volumes.

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