Liquor giant Diageo has demanded a unified taxation system based on per unit of alcohol regardless of whether the drink is beer, wine or any other liquor, reports decanter.com.

Reacting to HM Treasury’s review of alcohol taxation and pricing, Diageo has suggested freezing the duty of alcohol duty at its current level and using the current duty escalator (Retail Price Index plus 2%) to gradually adjust tax on the other drinks categories. 

Diageo GB managing director Simon Litherland said the idea was the “fairest and most transparent” way of approaching alcohol taxation. 

“Alcohol is alcohol and we believe that people should know they are paying the same tax per unit whether it is a pint of Guinness, a glass of Blossom Hill or a glass of Johnnie Walker,” he said. 

The new system would generate between £524m and £1.9bn a year for the Treasury, claimed Diageo citing an analysis by Volterra Consulting. 

But the company criticized the Government's plans to use taxation to penalize 'problem drinks' like super-strength cider and RTDs (Ready-to-take-drinks). 

Diageo said police figures showed beer, cider and wine were more likely to be chosen by binge or underage drinkers than RTDs. 

“The proposal to target a tax at RTDs is unfair, inconsistent and disproportionate to the problem,” Litherland said. “Our solution is to tax all drinks according to their alcohol content. Such an approach will mean strong drinks with more alcohol in them pay more tax.”