Do you believe that taxation on alcohol is too high? You're not alone
In Ireland, alcohol is subject to two taxes, VAT and excise duty. Overall, our excise duty on alcohol is the second highest in the EU*. In a recent survey**, almost two thirds of Irish adults (65%) said they were aware of this fact.
The magnitude of the differences in alcohol excise between Ireland and other EU countries is large. For example, Ireland’s beer excise is 11.4 times that of Germany.
The average government taxation on a pint of beer purchased here is 34% of the total price, including VAT and excise duty. Of those surveyed, close to three quarters (73%) said they thought the tax on beer was too high.
*A new report examining excise tax across the EU was commissioned by the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland and published in April 2017. The research was undertaken to find Ireland’s overall place in the wider ‘league table’ of EU excise tax rates.
**A bespoke online survey was conducted by Amárach Research to explore employment and attitudes in the hospitality industry for the Support Your Local campaign, with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 adults aged 18+ taking part.
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