If you sell alcohol, HMRC cares where you bought it. The Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) — introduced to choke off duty-evaded alcohol — makes it a criminal offence for a retailer to buy alcohol from an unregistered UK wholesaler. Every pub, bar, restaurant and shop needs to know the one check the scheme requires. Here it is.
What AWRS is
Since 2017, any UK business selling alcohol to other businesses (wholesalers, cash & carries, brokers, producers selling trade) must be approved by HMRC and hold an AWRS Unique Reference Number (URN). HMRC vets them as ‘fit and proper’ — the scheme exists because duty-evaded alcohol was flooding into ordinary retailers through dodgy wholesale channels.
What it means for you as a retailer
- Check every UK wholesale supplier’s AWRS URN against HMRC’s online lookup service before you first buy — and keep evidence of the check (screenshot with date).
- Recheck periodically and when anything smells wrong: prices well under market, cash-only vans, duty-paid status unclear.
- Buying from an unregistered wholesaler is your offence — penalties include fines, and the alcohol can be seized. “I didn’t know” fails if you never checked.
- Retail purchases from a supermarket for your own resale aren’t wholesale purchases under the scheme — but resale stock bought retail creates its own duty and invoice questions; buy trade, from registered suppliers, with proper invoices.
Red flags that precede seizures
- Prices materially below the duty-inclusive floor (if the price is less than the duty plus VAT could be, the duty wasn’t paid).
- No AWRS URN on invoices — registered wholesalers print it.
- Van sales, cash demanded, invoices from a different company name each month.
- Well-known brands with foreign-market labels or missing UK duty stamps on spirits over 35cl.
Why this belongs in your licensing file
Duty-evaded stock isn’t just an HMRC problem: it’s evidence against the crime-prevention licensing objective at a review, and police/trading standards joint visits look at invoices as routinely as they look at CCTV. A supplier file — URN checks, invoices, delivery notes — is thirty minutes of admin that makes those visits boring, which is exactly what you want.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need AWRS registration myself?
Only if you sell alcohol to other businesses. A pub selling to drinkers doesn’t; a pub regularly selling kegs to the café next door technically might — occasional incidental trade sales have a light-touch treatment, but take advice before making it a habit.
Where do I check a URN?
HMRC’s online AWRS lookup service (search “check AWRS approval” on GOV.UK). Match the name AND the URN — cloned numbers on fake invoices have been seen.
What about imports and EU suppliers?
AWRS covers UK wholesalers. Importing directly makes you the importer with duty obligations of your own — specialist territory; get an accountant who knows alcohol duty.
Building your compliance file? Supplier checks sit alongside staff training as review-hearing gold — our APLH covers the wider duty landscape every licence holder is expected to know.
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