Beer And Wine Tax Hike Next For Excise Dept: Thailand

[webfact]

Beer and wine tax hike next for Excise dept

Supanee Phuttisuth,

Puangchompoo Prasert

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Excise Department is now planning to increase the tax levied on beer and wine, following Tuesday's Cabinet decision to hike duty for liquor and cigarettes.

"The department is also looking at whether it should increase tax on beer and wine," Benja Louichareon, director-general of the department, said yesterday.

Since the rates levied on beer and wine have already reached the ceiling of 60 per cent of the value, or Bt100 per litre, the department would need to propose a law amendment to the government in order to do this, she said.

The aim was to create equality in the liquor market, as well as to reduce consumption, she explained.

Yesterday, the retail price of liquor was raised by an average of Bt10-Bt20 per bottle.

A market watcher said Blended 285, a spirit produced by Thai Beverage, was likely to cost Bt14 more per bottle, rising from Bt193 to Bt207 or Bt210, depending on the size.

Regency brandy is expected to rise by 2 percentage points based on its sales value, from 48 per cent to 50 per cent.

White spirit, which accounts for a large portion of the Thai liquor market, was unlikely to be significantly affected, the market watcher said. ThaiBev enjoys the biggest share of this product, which is popular in the Northeast.

Benja said she did not believe there would be much smuggling of imported liquor and cigarettes as a result of the new tax rates.

Moreover, consumers were unlikely to shift from liquor to either wine or beer, as they were different markets, the department chief said.

Following Cabinet's approval of excise hikes on liquor and cigarettes, the duty levied on white spirits rose from Bt120 to Bt150 per litre, that on blended spirits increased from Bt300 to Bt350 per litre, and that on brandy from 45 per cent to 48 per cent of sales value.

Meanwhile, the duty on cigarettes rose from 85 per cent to 87 per cent of sales value.

Benja also clarified yesterday that as a result of the tax hikes, the cost of a packet of cigarettes would be Bt3-Bt14 higher, while white spirits would be Bt5-Bt7 a bottle dearer, blended spirits would cost Bt8-Bt12 a bottle more, and a bottle of brandy would be Bt3-Bt12 more expensive.

Activists have warmly welcomed the government's decision to raise the tax on cigarettes and liquor, describing it as a move that would reduce the damage on the country as a whole.

"More than half of all offences committed are related to alcohol consumption," Thirapat Kahawong, the head of an anti-alcohol network, said yesterday.

He was among 30 activists who showed up at the Excise Department to express support for the government's decision.

Jadet Chaowilai, an adviser to the Network of Alcohol Victims, said the move would reduce the number of injuries, disabilities and deaths caused by alcoholic beverages.

"The move is for the good health and well-being of people," he said.

A study commissioned by the Thai Health Promotion Foundation suggests higher cigarette prices will reduce the number of Thai smokers by about 0.5 per cent.

"The number of smokers should drop by between 60,000 and 70,000," said the foundation's deputy manager, Supreeda Adulyanon. "We will have to introduce other measures too, such as limiting the availability of cigarettes."

Thailand is currently home to about 13 million smokers.

-- The Nation 2012-08-23

[theblether]

Gawd.........listen out for the wailing and gnashing of teeth at this news!!!

This will tip a few Cheap Charlies right over the edge!!!! It's enough to make a man turn to drink

[Ron19]

Nam Yen, that's the way to go.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Ron19

[Thai at Heart]

Nice of them to advertise the fact that they are going to do this.......

[Semper]

Bye bye Thailand, hello Cambodia.

[Moruya]

No surprises here.

The coffers have run dry and the poor need to pay for all the things they received for voting PTP

[jaltsc]

Good thing for the government that they don't set the tax based on the quality of the beer and wine. Then they'd have to pay you to drink the local swill.

[terryp]

ridicules; this is the Muslimification of Thailand

How they can tax the chemical pi££ they call beer here is a joke

[Pib]

Taxes are to politicians as heroin is to a drug addict. Give a politician an inch on taxes and he'll take a mile. And please excuse me for using the word taxes; I should have used the politically correct phase of revenue enhancement.

Edited August 23, 2012 by Pib

[samran]

ridicules; this is the Muslimification of Thailand

what an inane and misleading comment. Last I looked most Thai's were anything but Muslim.

Edited August 23, 2012 by samran

[Renbe]

Smart move, still a long way from measures taken by the Australian government (no more brand names on cigarette packs) or countries mulling a full ban on smoking for those born after the year 2000, or other Western countries where cigarettes cost many times more than in Thailand.

Same goes for alcohol, hand in hand with nicotine these two are the most addictive, dangerous and lethal drugs on earth. Kudos for Thailand!

[Arkady]

It seems the excise tax hike on wine and beer has only been left out because they are already at the maximum limits allowed by the Excise Tax Act which will now need to be amended.

The government has left itself few revenue options to fund its rapidly ballooning fiscal deficit most of which will be caused by wasteful projects that are designed purely to enrich ruling politicians. Property and inheritance taxes are off the table due to the fact that the populist party in power that successfully appeals to the poorly educated rural masses is actually comprised not of socialists but almost entirely of ethnic Chinese millionaires, while a hike in income tax is out of the question for the same reason. Corporate tax is being dropped and imports are nose diving, reducing the import duty tax. VAT cannot be raised back up to its official rate of 10% because of the detrimental effects that would have on CPI inflation.

They are clutching at straws with the excise tax on fags and booze as it will be a drop in a bucket compared to deficit but it's better than nothing and, although it hits a wide swathe of voters, they don't dare to protest due to the sinful implications of these products.

Although politicians are often seen drinking expensive wines in restaurants the excise tax hike is painless for them as they can import their wine without paying any duty or tax with the help of corrupt customs officials.

[Woodcaulk]

"More than half of all offences committed are related to alcohol consumption,"

The other half being due to amphetamine use. The increase in sin taxes will only increase the crimes associated with the procurement of funds needed for purchase of the drugs and alcohol.

[maidu]

"More than half of all offences committed are related to alcohol consumption,"

The other half being due to amphetamine use. The increase in sin taxes will only increase the crimes associated with the procurement of funds needed for purchase of the drugs and alcohol.

Where did you get that quote? I would bet the actual number for fermented sugars is over half, but that's just my guesstimate.

Well, let's hope those who worry about paying an extra few baht for alcoholic drugs won't do what local Thai kids around here are doing. They're buying up the rubber cement glue cans, to go sniff.

I found out when I went to buy some (not to sniff) and the hardware store owner told me.

[Fatherfluffybottom]

Prices are not exactly extraordinarily higher, if people cannot afford the price rise, then they shouldnt drink

or smoke cigarettes!!

Were i am from a packet of cigs will set you back 400 baht equiv and a bottle 750mm of spirits can set you

back 850 baht on average!

[F1fanatic]

Prices are not exactly extraordinarily higher, if people cannot afford the price rise, then they shouldnt drink

or smoke cigarettes!!

Were i am from a packet of cigs will set you back 400 baht equiv and a bottle 750mm of spirits can set you

back 850 baht on average!

And how much is the average wage in the country you came from? Somehow I suspect it will be far higher than the average wage in Thailand.

Edit - We do not know yet how much the cost of beer and wine will increase - only cigarettes and spirits have been affected so far, and this thread is about beer and wine increases.

Edited August 23, 2012 by F1fanatic

[Maestro]

How much is the import duty on wine?

[madmitch]

Equality? How can the ridiculous price of wine ever be deemed equal to any other drink in Thailand?

[Roota]

The interesting part of this story is hinted at in the 8th paragraph. If the government were serious about reducing alcohol consumption, clearly they'd focus on lao khaao. But ThaiBev, for pretty obvious reasons, is untouchable.

[bbradsby]

Government social engineering and/or pure revenue enhancement, ala Singapore, where chewing gum is illegal and a draught beer will run you S$ 12.00. Thailand's a long way away from that level of Daddy State, but frogs are more easily boiled one degree at a time.

[Fishface]

Cant you guys read, beer is already maxed out and needs a law change to increase tax. Read the frikin words.

Cigerettes is a mere 2% increase. it will stop nothing.

[damo]

It seems the spirit of what they are trying to achive is less alcaholism and few smoking related deaths. If they are slightly successful then good.

[how241]

Taxes are to politicians as heroin is to a drug addict. Give a politician an inch on taxes and he'll take a mile. And please excuse me for using the word taxes; I should have used the politically correct phase of revenue enhancement.

Correct.

[newermonkey]

I would like to see cigarettes made as illegal as heroin, as it certainly kills millions of people and it stinks real bad.

or put a 1000% duty on cigarettes

The government said they want to cut down on people drinking, I agree men in isarn are always drunk and acting like morons but the increases wont have any affect whatsoever as its not enough."just a couple of baht per bottle of that popular foul tasting lao khaao they like, ".

up the tax on cheap boose say, 2000% to 3000% that might have the desired effect.

But the government should bring the price of fine imported wines way down.

Edited August 23, 2012 by newermonkey

[technologybytes]

"White spirit, which accounts for a large portion of the Thai liquor market, was unlikely to be significantly affected, the market watcher said. ThaiBev enjoys the biggest share of this product, which is popular in the Northeast"

White Spirit ?? Where I come from that's sold as a solvent and brush cleaner, in the west they add poison to prevent people drinking it, but some still do!

source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_spirit

Edited August 23, 2012 by technologybytes

[topt]

I would like to see cigarettes made as illegal as heroin, as it certainly kills millions of people and it stinks real bad.

or put a 1000% duty on cigarettes

The government said they want to cut down on people drinking, I agree men in isarn are always drunk and acting like morons but the increases wont have any affect whatsoever as its not enough."just a couple of baht per bottle of that popular foul tasting lao khaao they like, ".

up the tax on cheap boose say, 2000% to 3000% that might have the desired effect.

But the government should bring the price of fine imported wines way down.

Some people also think that raising the prices on these items just does not work - see this article and its supporting articles that I hyappened to see earlier today -

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/08/22/alcohol_pricing_fail/

The article starts by saying -

"Economists at the Office of Fair Trading have quietly demolished the UK government's case for minimum alcohol pricing.

Minimum pricing regulations are likely to see more booze sold than ever, they predict, contrary to the government's desire to curtail alcohol consumption"

I would suggest it is likely to be even less effective in Thailand.

Personally I wish they would reduce the import tax on fine imported wines but unfortunately I do not see it happening any time soon.....

[spidermike007]

Bye bye Thailand, hello Cambodia.

Yes, great idea. Let's all move to a country that has absolutely no rule of law. Let us move to a country where the strongman, Hun Sen, regularly has people assassinated, like Che Vichea, the labor rights leader, because he does not like them, or they are critical of him, or they oppose his billionaire cronies confiscating land with zero compensation to the families who own the land, or have been living on the land and farming the land for decades. Let's all move to a country where the sons of the richest 6 families regularly kill someone who looks at their girlfriends, and suffer zero jail time, and are usually not even arrested. If you think Thailand is the wild west, just move to Cambodia, one of the most lawless nations on earth, and report back to us in a few years, if you are still alive.

[Fishface]

So there is drunk Morons 500miles away and we get taxed for it.

Why dont we have some special people --say dressed in a blue uniform that can take these people away off the street and punish them in some way like take money off them or lock them up in a very small room,-- we could call this room a cell.

Just a crazy Idea I had.

[Udox]

It wasn't too long ago when a certain leader proclaimed that the people's cries of rising prices were laughed off they were told it was 'all in their heads" and prices were not rising.

I wonder if she could say that nowadays just a couple of months later.

Food (markets and fast food outlets, Transport, now alcohol and cigarettes, yesterday the news announced National Park admissions to raise to more than double, - all these have risen within the last few months

It seems that the only thing not rising are the salaries. Yes we all know about the 300 baht minimum wage - but at what cost to the employee ? no more free lunches or other benefits and in some cases no more job.

The future is bright (but only because the sun is still shining) - no doubt that will be taxed next !

[GeorgeO]

Government social engineering and/or pure revenue enhancement, ala Singapore, where chewing gum is illegal and a draught beer will run you S$ 12.00. Thailand's a long way away from that level of Daddy State, but frogs are more easily boiled one degree at a time.

For some years I was under the same impression as you, that it is illegal to chew gum in Singapore; however, I was corrected last year when a lawyer friend of mine produced the statute to prove to me that it is only illegal to sell gum, but not to chew it..!

I guess the next logical step for that "forward-thinking" state is to make the importation of a single pack of gum punishable by stripping the skin from the perpetrator's backside...!! For anyone who has not seen the aftermath of ten strokes of the cane in Singapore, it is not a pretty sight at all!