Spirits & wine excise receipts up in Q1
As expected, beer sales declined in the first Quarter of the year compared with the same opening Quarter in 2019 according to Revenue Commissioners Q1 figures, with Revenue recording a 7% fall in net excise duty paid on beer which fell from €92.7 million in Q1 2019 to €86.3 million.
Spirits & wine excise revenues were up in Q1
But interestingly, excise receipts on sales of spirits showed 3% growth in Q1 2020 when compared with the same opening Quarter in 2019 (to €83.1 million from €80.5 million in 2019) as did excise receipts for wine which grew nearly 5% from €84.4 million in Q1 2019 to €88.4 million in the first Quarter of this year.
Cider showed a 7% decrease in the amount taken by Revenue in excise from €11.5 million in 2019 to €10.7 million in the first three months of this year.
Interestingly too, the Revenue Commissioners’ provisional excise receipt figures showed growth in March over February for Cider, Beer and Spirits.
The real picture will be painted with the Q2 results, due in August.
