Yahoo Finance ‘Aussies pay too much’: Beer is more expensive from today
Australian beer drinkers are paying the fourth highest tax rate in the world, and the price of a beer is only going to go up, a beer association is warning.
As of today, (Monday 5 August) the tax on beer will increase by 21 cents per litre on draft beer and by 30 cents per litre on stubbies, cans and long necks.
Why?
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The increase is in line with the twice-yearly consumer price index changes. The Australian Bureau of Statistics reports the index rose 0.6 per cent in the June quarter of 2019.
But, the Brewers Association of Australia claims, the tax is too high.
"It's already a hefty tax at $2.19 per litre for packaged beer," CEO Brett Heffernan said.
"The CPI increases may not sound like much, but these six-month government increases in beer tax are really adding up.”
Tax already makes up 42 per cent of the price of a typical carton of full-strength beer, he said.
"Calls for a mere freeze in the six-monthly CPI hikes to beer tax just won't cut it. All that does is lock-in the unreasonably high taxes Aussies are already paying. It gives punters no price relief.
"Only by addressing the rate of beer tax, which is way out-of-whack with the rest of the world, can Australians get the relief they deserve."
Fourth-highest beer tax rate in the world
The new tax means Australia is paying the fourth highest tax on beer in the world, after Norway, Japan and Finland.
The findings are backed up by research carried out by the University of Adelaide.
The study, Excise Duties on Beer: Australia in International Perspective found Australians pay $2.04 in tax per litre of beer with 4.4 per cent of alcohol, compared to Germany, where drinkers pay $0.12 per litre.
Norway has the most expensive tax, with $3.43 per litre in excise duties, followed by Japan ($2.50 per litre).
"Last year Aussie's coughed up over $3.6 billion in beer taxes – excise and GST. That headline figure is huge, and the day-to-day tax burden worn by Australians enjoying a drink is over-the-top,” Heffernan said.
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