A Bath restaurateur has joined a campaign calling for tax on wine and spirits to be cut.
Charlie Digney, who owns the King William, the Garrick's Head and Oakhill Inn, said rising taxes were crippling his business.
"Sometimes I feel as if all we do in business is pay tax.
"I pay huge duty on the purchase of alcohol. Then, I have to collect 20 per cent of sales in VAT. I pay about 13 per cent above my wage bill in National Insurance. Our company employs 40 people, at least 15 work full time, so ours is their main income. Less tax on wine would allow us to reduce our prices yet improve profit margins, it would be a win-win situation."
The TaxPayers' Alliance has launched a national campaign which urges supporters to write to their local MP calling for a cut in the duty on wine and spirits.
The campaign, Call Time on Duty, has been launched a week before Chancellor George Osborne reveals his Budget for the next 12 months.
Last year campaigners managed to persuade the Chancellor to scrap the 3p rise in beer duty and abolish the alcohol duty escalator for beer, which added inflation plus two per cent to the price of a pint.
Bath TaxPayers' Alliance supporter Tim Newark said duty paid on alcohol in the UK was amongst the highest in Europe.
"A whopping 57 per cent of the average price of a bottle of wine in the UK is tax.
"In France it's 20 per cent on a bottle of wine. That goes up to 79 per cent on an average bottle of spirits. It really doesn't help our local restaurants and bars and their customers to have such a huge extra cost on their drinks."
