300% Increase In Beer And Wine Taxes (proposed)

[Doc]

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse.

From here

A 300 PER CENT increase in beer and wine taxes is being proposed by the Rudd Government's new preventive health taskforce as families battle rising petrol, grocery and mortgage prices.

At least I have my stocks up.

Doc

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Luckily Dane upgraded the server

If if goes ahead there'll be influx of new members

I'd say that the major breweries will be doing all they can to block this

Cheers

 

[andrewg1978]

I'm all for an increase on the soda pop's but surely it is not common for binge drinking on beer and wine? This smells like revenue raising to me!!!!


Whats next - Tax homebrewing?

 

[devo]

I'm all for an increase on the soda pop's but surely it is not common for binge drinking on beer and wine? This smells like revenue raising to me!!!!


Whats next - Tax homebrewing?

Has been considered before but they found it too hard to bullshit a reason to tax raw ingredients.

 

[DJR]

Good way to increase the homebrewing community size and alienate half your electorate in one fell swoop...

What will be really funny is considering each excise increase due to CPI over the years has increased a schooner of beer's excise by 2c yet pubs charge 10-20c more, is that with a 46c increase on a schooner at that rate will increase the cost of beer at the pub by $2.50!!

 

[the_purple_dragon]

Punish everyone fo the bingers, thats great, next we'll all be getting a speeding fine cause your neighbour got busted.

 

[Dave86]

I'm all for an increase on the soda pop's but surely it is not common for binge drinking on beer and wine? This smells like revenue raising to me!!!!


Whats next - Tax homebrewing?

Well they'll need the extra money to invest back into health, defence and social security after the fallout of their budget cuts. I am all for cutting jobs in canberra though!

 

[PostModern]

Every change of government brings more loonies with a cause to a position where they can influence decision makers. This is ridiculous. After Denmark, Norway and Sweden, where taxes on liquor are about 40-50% of retail price, there is us. As far as I can tell, Australians have always enjoyed a drink. Taxes go up, we simply find the money and continue.

I understand their user-pays mentality for alcohol misuse, hence targeting the beverages seen to be causing a problem, but there are better ways to prevent mis-use. Drinking is not an economic problem, it's a social problem. Education, not taxation. It only becomes an economic problem when alcoholics can no longer afford to buy food or pay rent because of their drinking. And those with a real problem will reach this point. I know, my wife has worked in drug and alcohol rehab for the last 10 years (yes, the irony does not escape me).

I saw in some old report that 4% of New Zealand's GDP was lost to problems related to alcohol abuse. Ironically, alcohol production accounted for about 4% of the GDP. Get rid of the "problem" 1920's USA style and economically, they'd be in the same position. I imagine that the stats for Australia would be similar. Possibly higher GDP accounted for by alcohol production and lower GDP due to losses, as home distilling is illegal here.

 

[Beer Guy]

RIP micro brewing industry, micro distilling and micro wine making.

Thank you social engineers from protecting me from the evils of free choice, thought and freedom. Thank you for cutting me loose from the burden of having to be responsible for my own actions.

Speak freely whilst you can Australia, next is word tax to curb bullies and biggots.

Thanks Krudd, thanks fundamental christian extremeists and thanks Gen Alco Pop.

governments should be afraid of thier people not the other way round.

I am so angry right now I could pop (alco that is) :angry: :angry: :angry:

 

[justsomeguy]

Ya just gotta love comments like this one too

They need to extend the hike in taxes to premixed home brew kits, and really hit the home brew spirit kits which have some how slipped through the net, and those spirit kits can really make rocket fuel.

Well, they'd better start taxing sugar and baker's yeast to the hilt as well then so we don't all make a distillers wash (or so I've been told ) and, umm, refine it then.

Man, there are some twits around these days...


gary

 

[maltedhopalong]

...Education, not taxation. ...

To misquote the American Independance Chant: "NO TAXATION WITHOUT EDUMACATION!!!"

 

[geoff_tewierik]

Yeah I'd read that comment and had a good old chuckle. Wonder if I can locate that guy through the whitepages, seeing as he used his full name, and have a little chat to him.

 

[pokolbinguy]

Well I'm glad I didnt vote for them.....but that makes no difference....Better hurry up and get this AG setup going!!!

 

[Sammus]

I have a better proposition, they should only tax the alochol thats causing the problem. bourbon, rum, premixes, megaswill and cask wine. Leave the micros alone!

 

[geoffi]

I doubt this will get up. Smells like an ambit claim.

It's so extreme that those proposing it can't seriously believe it will go ahead. All the manufactured media outrage about 'binge drinking' would evaporate in a stink about increasing prices. It would be inflationary at a time when inflation is public enemy no. 1. It would alienate a whole lot of people.

Having said that, it would worry me barely a jot. I almost never buy booze. I don't really like wine or spirits, and I brew my own beer, so I couldn't give a damn.

Anyway, the new government should take a leaf out of the Howard government playbook. When a serious issue emerges that requires firm and decisive action, send out a fridge magnet.

 

[PostModern]

I have a better proposition, they should only tax the alochol thats causing the problem. bourbon, rum, premixes, megaswill and cask wine. Leave the micros alone!

You sound like one of them. You know what's best for everyone? Whatever you like?
We already have a tax on everygoodandservice called GST. It raises enough revenue.

Geoffi, you're probably right, just a distraction from the rest of the horrors they're about to propose. How silly that I walked right into it.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Geoffi, you're probably right, just a distraction from the rest of the horrors they're about to propose. How silly that I walked right into it.

Take a deep breath people, calm yourselves down. No good ranting and raving over something we don't know about.

We are about to get a Budget allowing a proposed $20 a week tax cut for the average family that will slug that same family more than that in excises. Fuel will soon be $2.00 a litre - road deaths from car accidents will decrease but bicycle accidents will more than take up that slack. Cigarettes at $20 a packet won't bother me as I don't smoke but we will soon get home grown tobacco clubs similar to homebrewing clubs starting up for the educated smokers. Or cigarettes that will recycle what is exhaled to give you more bang from the butt.

Soon we will need to organise ourselves into political organisations - think gun lobby style groups. Personally I will be prepared to stand for the Senate on an independant platform and when elected will shout (figuritively of course) loud and clearly (unless pissed, then I'll slur for effect) and rant and rave and binge until I get my ten year Qantas Gold Card and my 27.5% superannuation.

You have my word. Its as good as Krudd's.


edit : spelling

 

[KingPython]

I doubt this will get through, 300% is just too much for the public to handle but there'll be a substantial rise, which will further be inflated by companies.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Geoffi, you're probably right, just a distraction from the rest of the horrors they're about to propose. How silly that I walked right into it.

Sounds right to me..... He has already tried Keatings favourite attention deflection (Republic) after the 2020 crap, and it didnt raise much more than a murmur.

This one is sure to divert attention from the budget for a while, and the heat off his arse.

Fester.

 

[kirem]

I doubt the Unions that back labour will entertain this.