More tax on Booze/Cigs

bigneacy

Is it controversial of me to say I think they should have put a €1 tax on each unit of alcohol sold and each box of cigarettes?

I used to smoke and I am an occasional drinker. I have no moral/religious crusade against either, but I think they are a luxury and not totally necessary.

I think if you can afford to drink or smoke at the moment then you aren't exactly on the breadline.

I am not saying this for a fight or anything and it might be something that has been said before and I'll probably have a load of replies saying "its poor people's right to smoke and drink" blah blah blah (whatever) but I truly believe it should be taxed.

Also - As a driver, I'd say more petrol tax and road tax. If you can afford to drive, then you can afford to pay it. ("poor people are entitled to drive" "some don't have an option" yeah yeah yeah)

I am not rich and I am not a tax lover - the way I see it, the country is proper ****ed and is going to be sold to the highest bidder (aside from the IMF/Ze Germans i mean) unless we can get it sorted ourselves - more taxes is step 1 in this long hard process.

ntlbell

bigneacy wrote: »

Is it controversial of me to say I think they should have put a €1 tax on each unit of alcohol sold and each box of cigarettes?

pubs are closing down all over the place, you just force more people to stay in and buy cheap booze up north and encourage an increase in the import of ilegal cigs.

you have to find a balance.

cson

As ntlbell said; there comes a point when you reach a little plateau called called diminishing returns. Type it into wiki/google and you'll find out why excessively taxing something is bad for exchequer revenue in the long run.

bigneacy

ntlbell wrote: »

pubs are closing down all over the place, you just force more people to stay in and buy cheap booze up north

Probably another controversial opinion - If there are pubs closing down all over the place - perhaps its an indication that there are too many of them? The outdated and uncompetive pubs will be pushed out leaving the strongest contenders, who will - in turn get more customers. And anyway most off licences are owned by pubs so they still get their cut.

ntlbell wrote: »

encourage an increase in the import of ilegal cigs.

Well then use a quarter of the extra millions it would bring in yearly to step up the policing of anti smuggling/ illegal importation of them. Tougher fines, harsher sentences, more likely to deter potential evaders. Hefty fines for those caught with more than a reasonable amount of non-excise contraband.

Squeeze them out.

We can't be held captive by low lives (who aren't in government :pac:).

Dravokivich

Why not tax Tea?

jen_23

Regarding increasing petrol I think that is a bit much in hard times.
The majority of people at the moment are lucky to have one person working in the family and then they are very lucky if they do not have to commute long distances.

I don't think it's a case of if you afford to drive you should pay more for your tax and petrol.. In a lot of cases people are struggling as it is - petrol to put in the car isn't a luxury it's a neccesity to get to their job to put food on their tables to feed their family, to pay overbearing mortgages and to pay their bills.

For some people it's not an option to walk to work, carpool or cycle.. alot of people are commuting long distances to go to work as they have no other option with the job market being as bleak as it is at the moment...

CorkMan

Tax cigarettes is cool by me, why not by €2?

It could be used to clean up the cigarettes/litter/chewing gum of the streets.

ntlbell

bigneacy wrote: »

Probably another controversial opinion - If there are pubs closing down all over the place - perhaps its an indication that there are too many of them? The outdated and uncompetive pubs will be pushed out leaving the strongest contenders, who will - in turn get more customers. And anyway most off licences are owned by pubs so they still get their cut.

Why not tax coca-cola? fanta? coffee etc?

bigneacy wrote: »

Well then use a quarter of the extra millions it would bring in yearly to step up the policing of anti smuggling/ illegal importation of them. Tougher fines, harsher sentences, more likely to deter potential evaders. Hefty fines for those caught with more than a reasonable amount of non-excise contraband.

Squeeze them out.

We can't be held captive by low lives (who aren't in government :pac:).

why spend millions on something you might be able to stop when you can prevent in the first place?

I think our policing have more important things to be doing than looking for ciggys

bigneacy

ntlbell wrote: »

Why not tax coca-cola? fanta? coffee etc?

Yeah, good thinking... Maybe they could call it VAT or something?

ntlbell wrote: »

why spend millions on something you might be able to stop when you can prevent in the first place?

Do you really think not raising the tax on cigs is gonna prevent smuggling?

Absurdum

Dravokivich wrote: »

Why not tax Tea?

pensioners would go ape****

Soldie

With the amount of smuggling going on they might actually make more money from lowering the tax on cigarettes.

fifth

Very controversial!

I disagree. Lower the duty on cigs and booze, we need to compete with the UK's VAT rate also. This should be a temporary measure only, however. As if we leave it low for too long we'll have an even bigger health bill to contend with.

sh1tstirrer

bigneacy wrote: »

Is it controversial of me to say I think they should have put a €1 tax on each unit of alcohol sold and each box of cigarettes?

I used to smoke and I am an occasional drinker. I have no moral/religious crusade against either, but I think they are a luxury and not totally necessary.

I think if you can afford to drink or smoke at the moment then you aren't exactly on the breadline.

I am not saying this for a fight or anything and it might be something that has been said before and I'll probably have a load of replies saying "its poor people's right to smoke and drink" blah blah blah (whatever) but I truly believe it should be taxed.

Also - As a driver, I'd say more petrol tax and road tax. If you can afford to drive, then you can afford to pay it. ("poor people are entitled to drive" "some don't have an option" yeah yeah yeah)

I am not rich and I am not a tax lover - the way I see it, the country is proper ****ed and is going to be sold to the highest bidder (aside from the IMF/Ze Germans i mean) unless we can get it sorted ourselves - more taxes is step 1 in this long hard process.

Are you a member of FF trying to take the p1ss?

df1985

Drink is extortionate in Ireland as it is, another euro and itll be naggins down the pants for everyone (not just students!) Pubs would lose out in the long run-more closures, more unemployed, less tax receipts for the government. you cant just tax and tax and tax it, eventually you'll lose.

cson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns

Have a read of that those of you who are proponents of increasing the vice taxes.

Also; I haven't the time to dig it out online but there was a recent landmark case the result of which was that you can import any amount of Cigarettes or Alcohol you want from other EU States so long as you can prove its for personal use. It's an English case.

Thus we'll experience an even greater surge of Fags & Booze tourism whereby because of the cost of it here; people will buy their €20 flights to [Insert EU Country Here] and stock up. That is money the Irish Exchequer is not getting.

ntlbell

bigneacy wrote: »

Yeah, good thinking... Maybe they could call it VAT or something?

alcohol and soft drinks come under the same VAT header, but you only want to increase the alcohol?

bigneacy wrote: »

Do you really think not raising the tax on cigs is gonna prevent smuggling?

I think finding a balance on taxing and affordability will reduce the amount of smokes been smuggled.

people don't generally think I can't afford to smoke i'll stop. they find other means.