Thailand to abolish hefty import tariff on wine

[worgeordie]

Wonder how the taxman is going to claw the lost revenue back ,as you

never get any freebies from the taxman ,might give it out with right hand

and take it back with the left.....

 

regards worgeordie

[4MyEgo]

3 hours ago, ozz1 said:

I'll believe it when i see it

 

I'm with you on that, heard about this a year ago and here we are, nothings changed.

[Guderian]

Don't forget that the supermarkets and wine shops have already paid the ridiculous duty on their stock, so they'll have to sell that lot first before they dare to put out any wine bought under these new tariffs. That could take a long time.

[terryofcrete]

Many of my family members are wine drinkers and are reasonably well off . They have all been to Thailand....once... and have commented that the lack of decent wine at sensible prices contributed significantly to their decision not to return. 
I don't drink alcohol so I couldn't care less... 

[Bangkok Barry]

3 hours ago, Orient Express said:

Exactly.

 

The same article states: "It comes after the governemnt [sic] introduced a series of relaxations on booze sales. In 2022, it lifted a five-decade-long ban on alcoholic beverage sales in the afternoon between 2 and 5pm."

 

Kind of undermines your faith in other content in the article, doesn't it. 1 - the 2-5 ban hasn't been there for five decades, but since when Mr (not Miss) Thaksin was PM. 2 - it hasn't been lifted anyway.

 

Why is it that people these days can get published without checking facts and knowing what they are writing about? Dumber and dumber.

[Frankie baby]

I recall reading there was another component (other than obvious protectionism) that keeps it artificially high too

They use to lower the tax on larger volumes like the 2 & 4 litre wine boxes (there was a good reason for it, but I cant remember).

 

On another note "WHAT GOES UP MUST COME DOWN" it was taxes like this that set the ball rolling for free-fall farang tourism. Looks like somebodies pressed the panic button? 

[Bangkok Barry]

14 minutes ago, Guderian said:

Don't forget that the supermarkets and wine shops have already paid the ridiculous duty on their stock, so they'll have to sell that lot first before they dare to put out any wine bought under these new tariffs. That could take a long time.

 

Probably, but I'm not sure about that. I used a manage an HMV record store in the UK and quite often tax on records would be increased in the budget. I had to charge the new price from the next day as tax was paid on sales, but try explaining that to pi**ed off customers who thought we taking advantage by charging more on old stock.

[Sydebolle]

10+ years too late - this "idea" happened on Yingluck's watch and must have cost Thailand billions of Baht. Have you seen, what is being hauled across from Laos into Nakorn Phanom, Mukdahan and Chong Mek? 

[Retfed50]

3 hours ago, Orient Express said:

Exactly.

 

The same article states: "It comes after the governemnt [sic] introduced a series of relaxations on booze sales. In 2022, it lifted a five-decade-long ban on alcoholic beverage sales in the afternoon between 2 and 5pm."

When did this happen?

[Frankie baby]

While their trying to get the tourist back with carrots like this, they might want to take another look at the biggest money spinner they have "Western Pensions". That's got to be the back bone of all Thai foreign currency reserves & more. Never really gets a mention, but western countries must be sick & tired of their hard currencies heading for countries like this & propping-up their economies, especially when there citizens seem to be getting pushed around whilst trying to spend it.  

[xylophone]

10 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

10+ years too late - this "idea" happened on Yingluck's watch and must have cost Thailand billions of Baht. Have you seen, what is being hauled across from Laos into Nakorn Phanom, Mukdahan and Chong Mek? 

NO.......what is being hauled across??

[BenStark]

13 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Kind of undermines your faith in other content in the article, doesn't it. 1 - the 2-5 ban hasn't been there for five decades, but since when Mr (not Miss) Thaksin was PM. 2 - it hasn't been lifted anyway.

 

 

The law actually exists since 1972m but I think it didn't get much enforced before the Thaksin era, and it got lifted in 2022, but only for hotels

 

https://vino-joy.com/2022/06/30/thailand-lifts-50-year-old-booze-ban/

 

[cjinchiangrai]

Super!

 

The supply will still be limited to vendors that can ship in bulk or charge a high premium for freight but this will be great. Plenty of really good wines out there. Hopefully this will be published soon enough to take advantage of the 2023 releases coming in the next few months.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

These tax cuts are expected to significantly reduce the cost of imported wines in Thailand, a country that has traditionally imposed an average tax of about 250% on wine, including import tariffs, excise tax, municipal tax, and a 7% VAT.

Which for a long time has been utterly disgusting... 

[MonteD]

Interested to see how much savings will be passed on?

[brianthainess]

So can I now go and by alcohol in the afternoon, and demand they sell it to me because on AN it says I can. 

[brianthainess]

13 minutes ago, BenStark said:

 

The law actually exists since 1972m but I think it didn't get much enforced before the Thaksin era, and it got lifted in 2022, but only for hotels

 

https://vino-joy.com/2022/06/30/thailand-lifts-50-year-old-booze-ban/

 

Oh stop it we might start getting full accurate stories by Ms. N WANG. instead of wong ones.

[Espanol]

From this news and other similar ones, I get the impression that the Thais have finally realized that quality tourism, which really brings money, is the "farang", and not the hordes of Indians and Chinese who come all-inclusive, already paid at source to Chinese tour operators, and the vast majority of whom never visit a bar or a restaurant.

[Jiggo]

5 hours ago, mikebell said:

Staggering but this is par for the course on many farang foods/beverages even stuff made under licence or repackaged here.  They bang on about attracting tourists, who are the future ex-pats, yet penalise them with racist taxation.

Racist taxation lol

[Nickcage49]

Well glory be! I never thought I'd see the day.

[retarius]

There is almost zero price competition in Thailand, so I'll believe price cuts when I actually see them on the supermarket or wine store shelves. I feel that most retailers and wholesalers will take the opportunity to increase profits rather than give the drinkers a break. And always remember here in Thailand anyone who cuts their prices to attract more customers gets his shop burned down or worse and the police will be unable to trace the perp. So as I said 'seein' is believin'.

[Chongalulu]

5 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

Not sure I understand the logic here.

 

 

To make up for the lost tax revenue, they're going to have to rely on increased consumption.

 

Has someone done the math, or is some duopoly going to benefit from this change?

 

 

 

 

 

Well that’s exactly what happens; double the price of something and demand / sales drops significantly. Here,wine is significantly overpriced (about double the UK price for an Australian example ) so I don’t drink it (or extremely rarely) so net tax intake is nil. Reduce the taxes and I (and many others) will drink more. There’s basically a curve (like the Laffer curve) where the tax rate optimizes the total tax take. Thailand is way past the top of the curve on the downward slope so shooting itself in the foot.

[beautifulthailand99]

Who is the monopoly importer who no doubt has a 20 year exclusive licence then !!

[xylophone]

24 minutes ago, Nickcage49 said:

Well glory be! I never thought I'd see the day.

Wait for it.........you still might not!!!

[freeworld]

Would have thought Thailand had this tax for health reasons, more tax = less consumption.

 

Peoples livers would be better off.

[Cabradelmar]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

According to the government spokesperson, import tariffs on wines, which currently stands at 54% and 60% of declared value, will be abolished indefinitely. Additionally, the excise tax on wine will also be lowered from 10% to 5% of its price.

 

Confusing as the article from Vino News says "The new tax measures will take effect shortly and will last until end of the year, according to the Thai government."  As some else said, I've believe when I see it for myself.

 

[pacovl46]

"Hey sweetie, wine bottles just got 300 Baht cheaper in Thailand. Let's spend 2000 bucks on two return tickets so we can enjoy the discount!"

[harleyclarkey]

Just as well - reducing the price of those bottles stewing in the rabid heat in many shop windows! 

[nglodnig]

There IS a God!

[off road pat]

6 hours ago, bamnutsak said:

Not sure I understand the logic here.

 

 

To make up for the lost tax revenue, they're going to have to rely on increased consumption.

 

Has someone done the math, or is some duopoly going to benefit from this change?

 

 

 

 

 

Hmm,.. Maybe someone well placed in or close to the government has a big business in importing wine !?!?

the usual case of TIT