2-Year Beer Excise Freeze Clears Lower House

A beer tap at a pub in Melbourne, Australia, on March 26, 2025. Asanka Ratnayake/Getty ImagesThe federal government’s plan to freeze the excise on draught beer has passed the House of Representatives, setting up a two-year pause on automatic tax increases once the legislation clears the Senate.The Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 will suspend indexation of the beer excise retrospectively from Aug. 1, 2025, preventing the usual twice-yearly increases linked to inflation.