UK consumers currently pay about 40% of the entire level of alcohol duty across the whole European Union.
This is a striking claim. I had heard that the British pay 40 per cent of all the beer tax in the EU, but I didn't realise that the same was true of all other alcoholic drinks.
Nevertheless, a check of the numbers in this EU document shows that it is true. The figures break down like this:
Spirits
EU total: €14.5 billion
UK total: €3.7 billion
UK percentage: 25%
Wine
EU total: €6 billion
UK total: €4 billion
UK percentage: 67%
Beer
EU total: €10
UK total: €4 billion
UK percentage: 40%
Sparkling wine
EU total: €1 billion
UK total: €460 million
UK percentage: 43%
Intermediate ('alcopops')
EU total: €700 million
UK total: €406 million
UK percentage: 58%
All alcohol
EU total: €31.2 billion
UK total: €12.5 billion
UK percentage: 40%
This is a rip off of British drinkers on an epic scale. The UK—which drinks less than the EU average—has 12 per cent of the EU population but pays 40 per cent of alcohol taxes. Pound for pound, we are paying more than three times as much alcohol duty than the EU average.
The exploitation of wine drinkers is particularly ruthless (most EU countries don't levy alcohol duty on wine at all), but every type of drink is subject to exceptionally high rates of tax. No wonder the European Commission thinks the British government can afford to give it another £1.7 billion.
ReplyDeleteThe exploitation of wine drinkers is particularly ruthless...
Be thankful you don't live in Thailand, Chris. By the time wine has found its way to the supermarket shelf, it has attracted somewhere in the region of 430% in tax and duties. You can buy a decent bottle of genuine Scotch for less than a barely half-decent bottle of wine.
It's bloody bizarre. And bloody annoying, too, as I spend a fair bit of time in Thailand, and my tipple of choice is wine.
On the other side of the coin, however, mostly I'm in Greece, and my daily house wine is a very drinkable Merlot (12.8%, currently the 2011 vintage), which I buy in 10 litre boxes for a mere €20 a pop. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose...
But back on topic, yes, the UK taxes are horrendous. Have you had a look at the comparisons for tobacco taxes across the EU by any chance? A similar story, I'd bet.
In the UK, smokers and drinkers have become the government milch cows, and such is the addiction of the treasury to that cash flow that I can't see the situation ever improving.