[BlueDragon193]

Drinkers awake to higher tabs

Published: 4 Sep 2013 at 01.19
Online news: Local News

Drinkers awoke Wednesday to higher prices of beer, wine and liquor after the cabinet Tuesday approved new effective alcohol tax rates.

The Excise Department has ordered its officials to be on alert to prevent the smuggling of untaxed alcohol and the hoarding of liquor following the decision, which took effect at midnight last night.

The alcohol tax is broken into two parts - a tax on product value and a tax on alcohol content.

The maximum tax for beer will be maintained at 60% of the product's value, but the effective tax rate per litre of 100% alcohol content rose from 100 baht to 300 baht.

If this is your pleasure, your only choice effective today is to pay more or drink less, as alcohol prices are set to rise across the board.

The tax hike will drive up beer prices by about 3-7 baht per bottle.

For wine, products worth less than 600 baht per bottle will be be exempt from the product value-based tax, while those priced above 600 baht will be taxed at 36% of the product's retail value.

In terms of alcohol content, all wine will now be taxed at 1,000 baht per litre of pure alcohol, up from 100 baht.

Liquor prices also rose by about 7-15% depending on the type and alcohol content, though specific details of the tax rates were not available at press time Tuesday.

The Finance Ministry will release details of the new tax policy Wednesday.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong expressed confidence the new tax rates would pose no major problems.

"I want to assure you the tax restructuring for alcoholic beverages is not aimed at boosting state revenue, but is aimed at reducing the number of alcohol drinkers," Mr Kittiratt said.

"More importantly, we hope alcohol consumption will reduce during this Buddhist Lent period."