Denatured alcohol: producing, stocking, distributing, selling and using
Source: gov.uk (2025-02-01)

How to apply for authorisation to produce, stock, distribute, sell or use denatured alcohol.

Overview

Denatured alcohol is alcohol that has been made unsuitable for drinking by the addition of approved denaturants.

There are 3 classes of denatured alcohol:
- completely denatured alcohol (CDA)
- industrial denatured alcohol (IDA)
- trade specific denatured alcohol (TSDA)
Authorisation

You must be authorised or licensed by HMRC to:
- produce denatured alcohol
- stock denatured alcohol
- distribute denatured alcohol in wholesale quantities
- sell denatured alcohol — although you can sell completely denatured alcohol without any restrictions
- use industrial denatured alcohol, or trade specific denatured alcohol
Produce denatured alcohol

You’ll need to be licensed as a denaturer to produce denatured alcohol. Apply for a license to carry on an excise trade using form L5 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-application-for-an-excise-trade-licence-l5) and send it to the Excise Processing Team. In the ‘specified trade’ section, you must enter ‘denaturer’.

You should also apply for approval of your intended processes at the same time.

Read more about how to apply for a licence to denature alcohol (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-473-production-distribution-and-use-of-denatured-alcohol/excise-notice-473-production-distribution-and-use-of-denatured-alcohol#production-of-denatured-alcohol).

Distribute, stock or sell types of denatured alcohol wholesale

You’ll need to be licensed to distribute, hold stocks of, or sell, industrial denatured alcohol or trade specific denatured alcohol in wholesale quantities (not less than 20 litres).

You should write to the National Registration Unit (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/alcohol-duties-national-registration-unit) if you want to be licensed to distribute denatured alcohol.

If you intend to hold stocks of denatured alcohol you’ll also need to ‘make entry’ of your premises and apply for an authorisation to use denatured alcohol at the same time.

Read more about how to apply for a licence to distribute denatured alcohol and ‘make entry’ of premises (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-473-production-distribution-and-use-of-denatured-alcohol/excise-notice-473-production-distribution-and-use-of-denatured-alcohol#distribution-of-denatured-alcohols).

You must only supply industrial or trade specific denatured alcohol to someone who is authorised by HMRC to use it.

Read more about supplying industrial or trade specific denatured alcohol in the UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-473-production-distribution-and-use-of-denatured-alcohol/excise-notice-473-production-distribution-and-use-of-denatured-alcohol#supply-of-denatured-alcohol-in-the-uk).

Use industrial or trade specific denatured alcohol

You should write to the National Registration Unit if you want to be authorised to use industrial or trade specific denatured alcohol.

Read more about producing, supplying and using denatured alcohol (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-473-production-distribution-and-use-of-denatured-alcohol).