TAXING wine in the same way as beer would earn the government an extra $1.5 billion. At the same time, it would cut sales of cask wine 61 per cent, boost sales of beer, and cut overall alcohol consumption 9 per cent.
The plan, tested in economic modelling by the Allen Consulting Group, will be unveiled at a forum in Parliament House today designed to pressure Treasurer Wayne Swan in the lead-up to the October tax summit.
Allen Consulting has told the Alcohol Education & Rehabilitation Foundation that taxing wine on the basis of price, while beer is taxed per unit of alcohol means men can use cask wine to exceed health guidelines for "a little over a dollar" while women can drink to excess for 50¢.
''The existing wine tax arrangements allow individuals who are seeking to consume alcohol irresponsibly to do so cheaply,'' the Allen report says. ''Incongruently, the regime also applies tax more heavily to individuals looking to purchase quality wines for the purposes of responsible consumption.
''The consequence is that irresponsible drinkers contribute little to the taxation revenue necessary to address alcohol-related harm in the community, whilst responsible drinkers do.'' The change proposed by Allen would double the price of cask wine and lift the price of premium bottles 17 per cent. It would remove the rebates enjoyed by small wineries, which Allen says larger wineries rort, ''turbo charging'' the wine glut.
The Allen proposals are similar to those put forward by the Henry Tax Review. Mr Swan rejected the recommendation, saying his government would not change alcohol tax ''in the middle of a wine glut and where there is an industry restructure under way''. Alcohol Education & Rehabilitation Foundation chief executive Michael Thorn said the report showed Mr Swan's argument to be hollow.
0 comments:
Post a Comment