Aussies may pay more for a beer as of TODAY

Buying a beer at the pub is set to cost you more after alcohol taxes were increased today. (Source: Getty)

Knocking one back on a sunny afternoon is set to hit your hip pocket more than before with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) bringing in the biggest beer tax increase in more than a decade.

The ATO’s Alcohol Excise Duty rate has been increased by a factor of 1.021 to keep in line with inflation.

This means brewers have to pay a higher amount of tax per litre of alcohol they make - a tax often passed on to the consumer.

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From today, a keg of beer between eight and 48 litres, where the alcohol volume is less than 3 per cent, will attract an excise duty of $9.20 per litre - up from $9.01 a litre.

The most common commercial kegs, that your local would likely use, are around 50 litres.

For those above 48 litres, with an alcohol volume between 3 per cent and 3.5 per cent, the tax will be $28.82 per litre, up from $28.23 per litre.

The industry has repeatedly called for the Government to slash the tax, especially given the difficulties of COVID-induced lockdowns.

“We are very concerned that on 1 February the Australian Government will hit Australian beer drinkers with one of the biggest beer tax increases in more than a decade,” John Preston, CEO of the Brewers Association of Australia, said.

“It’s not right and it’s not sustainable. Other countries have been reducing their tax on draught beer to give pubs and beer drinkers a break.

“We are calling for the Federal Government to use the forthcoming Federal Budget to reduce Australia’s fourth-highest beer tax in the world to give pubs and clubs a fighting chance.”

This comes after recent figures from the ATO showed how hard hit Aussies pubs had been hit by the pandemic.

The figures found that pubs and clubs sold 40 million fewer pints of beer in the period from July to September 2021 than they did for the same period in 2019, before the pandemic hit.

The devastating figures displayed a massive drop of over 50 per cent in beer sales for struggling venues.

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