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Mine’s a pint….

26th Jun 2015
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The Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS)
This scheme will affect your clients if any of them are alcohol wholesalers, brokers, auctioneers or retailers.  It starts on 1 October 2015 in case you didn’t read the relevant section of the 2013 Autumn Statement or you’ve slept since then and it has passed from your conscious mind….
  
The powers that be reckon that alcohol duty fraud is costing them around £1 billion per year and this is the latest stage of their ongoing “Tackling Alcohol Fraud” strategy launched back in 2010 as I’m sure you all remember.  
Apparently there are nearly 20,000 legitimate alcohol wholesalers in the UK (my that’s a lot!) and under the new scheme they will need to demonstrate they are ‘fit and proper’ and have their supply chains tested to make sure they are legitimate before being approved to operate in the sector, and entered onto a register. 
Retailers will be required to purchase alcohol only from registered wholesalers and will be able to check whether their suppliers are registered on an online look-up facility. This will provide businesses with more certainty of the legitimacy of who they’re trading with. It will also remove the excuse of ignorance for any business who might take the risk of dealing in illicit alcohol.
HMRC will have new powers to deal with any wholesaler not registered. Any alcohol goods found in the premises of unregistered businesses will be liable for seizure - whether or not the duty has been paid. Those involved will also be liable to tough penalties. In addition, any retailer purchasing from an unregistered wholesaler will be liable to penalties.
The new rules:
• From 1 October 2015, all alcohol wholesalers must apply online to HMRC to register for AWRS
• From 1 January 2016 HMRC will start to review all AWRS applications to decide whether businesses are ‘fit and proper’ to be accepted onto the register. Where a business fails the ‘fit and proper’ test, HMRC will remove its right to trade in wholesale alcohol
• From 1 April 2017, all businesses who trade in, or retail, alcohol will need to make sure that any UK wholesalers that they buy from are registered with HMRC. HMRC will provide an online look up service so that trade buyers can ensure wholesalers they buy from are registered with HMRC
Penalties
New criminal and civil sanctions will be introduced for wholesalers and trade buyers caught purchasing alcohol from non-registered wholesalers. Penalties for wholesalers will start from 1 January 2016, penalties for trade buyers will start from 1 April 2017. 
Businesses will have a similar right to review and appeal as they do for other HMRC regimes for any civil penalties raised or decisions related to their approval.
Further details, including guidance on how HMRC may judge a business to be ‘fit and proper’ can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/the-alcohol-wholesaler-registration-scheme-awrs
Cheers!
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