And Yet Another Tax. How Many More ?

Bongalongherb

A NEW proposal to tax off-licence and supermarket alcohol. The controversial measure is part of a bill being moved in the Seanad next month. (we should have got rid of the Seanad when we had the chance). Another tax on folk, using the excuse that alcohol is the main reason why young folk commit suicide... When the pharmaceutical industry is free to sell their drugs to children, (Does prozac ring a bell) of which causes extreme suicidal tendencies of which is not looked at.Tax them further instead.

A bottle of wine currently retailing for €8 would increase in price by 82c, a 500ml can of Heineken retailing at €2.15 would rise in price by 25c, and a one-litre bottle of Smirnoff vodka, currently priced at €28, would cost €31

.

There is a problem with young people drinking alcohol I agree, but I would say, make their parents pay this tax if they cannot control their children from drinking alcohol, instead of the rest of society having to foot the tax after tax on alcohol of which drink in a responsible manner. It's always put on the shoulders of responsible drinkers to foot the bill isn't it.

Sen MacSharry said the bill was not intended to penalise owners of pubs, venues and nightclubs,but was "aiming to take advantage of the historically low prices of alcohol intended for consumption at home and elsewhere

.

Hang on a second... Historically low prices of alcohol ?. This is just crazy ? the price of alcohol in Ireland is extortionate compared to other EU countries, it makes no sense...

Independent.ie

Alcohol prices here are 62pc higher than average and cigarettes are twice as dear – making them the most expensive in the whole EU.

The amount of taxes dropping on everyone's head these days is just over-kill. It has to stop. What do you folk think on this ? Should we just roll over again and take more of these taxes ?.

How can you tax a society into oblivion ?

Source: http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/supermarket-tax-will-add-to-drinkers-woe-30392036.html

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/we-pay-more-for-food-and-drink-than-most-of-europe-29363968.html


The government should be looking into the case of street drugs as well, as they are mixed with everything you can imagine, of which I'm sure cause serious health effects. Alcohol is controlled, but these mixed up street drugs are on every street corner mixed with pharmaceutical drugs as well which is extreme regarding children's health. And children are taking them.

This is just another tax on alcohol for you to pay for all other unrelated drug effects that are pushed aside from the government. It's a mind-game from a corrupt inept government to fool you into thinking that this is the major cause and for you to pay more Tax on your consumer products, when it is far from it as I mentioned above. Genuine folk that do not abuse alcohol are the ones that will be paying this extra tax and it's wrong.

MayoSalmon

As many as the people allow unfortunatley

kneemos

Looks like it's just high enough not to affect sales but give a boost to revenue.

May be wrong but I always thought alcohol was a symptom of an illness rather than the cause of suicide.

CarrickMcJoe

Thank God for the border, pity it's not down at the boyne though.

(They already stuck a euro extra tax on a bottle of wine).

Geuze

Note that the overall level of taxation in Ireland is well below average.

See here:

http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_PUBLIC/2-16062014-BP/EN/2-16062014-BP-EN.PDF

ThisRegard

Bongalongherb wrote: »

Hang on a second... Historically low prices of alcohol ?. This is just crazy ?

You can get a bottle or can of beer for less that €1, same price range as a soft drink, cheaper than going out for a coffee.

kneemos

ThisRegard wrote: »

You can get a bottle or can of beer for less that €1, same price range as a soft drink, cheaper than going out for a coffee.

Indeed,much cheaper than it used to be.
Don't drink myself much and God knows what it's like but I notice Aldi have bottles of spirits for €15

L1011

It's a private members bill. In the Seanad. From the opposition.

It won't actually happen.

keithclancy

I'd happily exchange my Dutch tax for Irish tax if expensive booze and cigarettes was the only trade off

You'd get
My Mandatory Private health insurance
Household Tax
City Tax
Motor Tax
Tax loading for Diesel
Regional Loading for Motor Tax
Water Standing Charge
Per cubic meter charge on water
Water defense charge

My motor tax works out at 1400 euros per year on a 2 liter diesel, before you mention VRT there's also BPM here which is pretty much the same.

On my health insurance there's a mandatory 360 euros own risk that everyone in the Netherlands has to pay.

In the words of Eddie Murphy the Belastingdienst (Tax Service) pretty much take half your shít before you get to spend anything.

Even when you are unemployed you are still required to pay your health insurance, or when you are a student.

Oh and also I work over the border in Germany so the fúcking Catholic Church also get a cut of my wages directly from my pay.

Yay !

Tazz T

kneemos wrote: »

Indeed,much cheaper than it used to be.
Don't drink myself much and God knows what it's like but I notice Aldi have bottles of spirits for €15

?Much cheaper than it used to be?

Firstly, someone show me where I can get a can of beer for less than €1? You can't. Secondly, saying it is much cheaper than it used to be makes as much sense as 'historically low prices of alcohol' Due to the new taxes over the last couple of years, we now have the highest priced alcohol in the EU and the fourth highest in the the world.

Phil_Lives

keithclancy wrote: »

Oh and also I work over the border in Germany so the fúcking Catholic Church also get a cut of my wages directly from my pay.

Church tax is entirely voluntary. You can disassociate yourself from the Church.

Sam Kade

The solution to every problem is extra tax

ThisRegard

Tazz T wrote: »

?Much cheaper than it used to be?

Firstly, someone show me where I can get a can of beer for less than €1? You can't.

If you want a hand with the maths give me a shout.

http://www.carryout.ie/special-offers/

shruikan2553

So how does a ~10% tax stop children? Alcohol will still be sold in the same amounts and they'll have to gather an extra bit for it instead of drinking less. The only thing this seems to manage is generate revenue.

If things like suicide are such a problem they want to solve why not actually do something about mental health instead?

Sam Kade

shruikan2553 wrote: »

So how does a ~10% tax stop children? Alcohol will still be sold in the same amounts and they'll have to gather an extra bit for it instead of drinking less. The only thing this seems to manage is generate revenue.

If things like suicide are such a problem they want to solve why not actually do something about mental health instead?

The government couldn't couldn't give a fiddlers fcuk about children drinking smoking etc. it's a lame excuse to get more in taxes.

inforfun

It is all about the money for those politicians.

Beer is already watered down, 4.2% crap here and costing way too much.

This link shows you the prices of Heineken in a Dutch major supermarket.

If you have to believe irish politicians, those prices should mean entire cities in Holland are currently committing suicide.
They arent.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

How can you compare the price of alcohol in Ireland to that elsewhere in Europe?

Do you want their wages too? I imagine you are only chosing the good aspects of a country and want those, ignoring all the other, quite negative, aspects...

inforfun

Mary Happy Key wrote: »

How can you compare the price of alcohol in Ireland to that elsewhere in Europe?

Do you want their wages too? I imagine you are only chosing the good aspects of a country and want those, ignoring all the other, quite negative, aspects...

If that is addressed to me...

Only thing i want to say with it, is that it doesnt help at all to keep increasing tax on alcohol to address the problem they think they address with it.

kneemos

Tazz T wrote: »

?Much cheaper than it used to be?

Firstly, someone show me where I can get a can of beer for less than €1? You can't. Secondly, saying it is much cheaper than it used to be makes as much sense as 'historically low prices of alcohol' Due to the new taxes over the last couple of years, we now have the highest priced alcohol in the EU and the fourth highest in the the world.

As I say I don't touch the stuff much but I used to buy the odd bottle of Vodka maybe fifteen or twenty years ago and I notice it's still the same price,even with the change to Euro's.

ThisRegard

inforfun wrote: »

Beer is already watered down, 4.2% crap here and costing way too much.

You're buying the wrong stuff.

inforfun

ThisRegard wrote: »

You're buying the wrong stuff.

I am not buying the 4.2% crap at all.

Every now and then i run into a box of Grolsch 5% and that will go in the shopping trolly.

tayto lover

Give up the auld drink lads and go to mass more often :pac:

jester77

tayto lover wrote: »

Give the auld drink lads and go to mass more often :pac:

Wait until they bring in the church tax like they have here in lots of other countries, works out at 8% or 9% of your income tax here.

I would rather keep my 100 euros a month for overpriced beer!!!

CIARAN_BOYLE

The biggest problem with alcoholism is the underpriced alcohol.

The idea of a €1 can should be scrapped. I don't like the idea of taxes that hit the entire market as it is unlikely to have an effect. (and it makes me pay more).

L1011

jester77 wrote: »

Wait until they bring in the church tax like they have here in lots of other countries, works out at 8% or 9% of your income tax here.

I would rather keep my 100 euros a month for overpriced beer!!!

Pretty easy to opt out in most countries with those, simply by not being a member of a religion.

wally79

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

Thank God for the border, pity it's not down at the boyne though.

(They already stuck a euro extra tax on a bottle of wine).

This may have changed but I do remember noticing a few years ago that the beer from the north had a lower alcohol percentage than down here. I figured that was the main reason for the price difference

jester77

MYOB wrote: »

Pretty easy to opt out in most countries with those, simply by not being a member of a religion.

It can be tricky, but once you opt out you can't have any chistenings, communions, confirmations, weddings, funerals etc. Would be interesting to see what would happen in Ireland!

kneemos

jester77 wrote: »

It can be tricky, but once you opt out you can't have any chistenings, communions, confirmations, weddings, funerals etc. Would be interesting to see what would happen in Ireland!

Blackmail in other words.

L1011

jester77 wrote: »

It can be tricky, but once you opt out you can't have any chistenings, communions, confirmations, weddings, funerals etc. Would be interesting to see what would happen in Ireland!

Managed fine without those in my family - weddings and funerals are entirely civil affairs anyway and you can have a random pissup for a kid being born/7/12 without requiring a church in the morning if you want to.

Knob Longman

Sam Kade wrote: »

The IRISH solution to every problem is extra tax

keithclancy

Phil_Lives wrote: »

Church tax is entirely voluntary. You can disassociate yourself from the Church.

Not since the change in Canon law in 2009.

keithclancy

inforfun wrote: »

It is all about the money for those politicians.

Beer is already watered down, 4.2% crap here and costing way too much.

This link shows you the prices of Heineken in a Dutch major supermarket.

If you have to believe irish politicians, those prices should mean entire cities in Holland are currently committing suicide.
They arent.

You've linked to a special offer site, you'll note the normal price next the discounted price.

Also they raised the age for beer from 16 to 18 in the Netherlands since earlier on this year because kids were getting trashed on below cost beer.

I believe in Ireland the below cost selling deals are also attractive, but since you pay so much less for Lamb and Beef, I guess you can spend a few more quid on booze

shruikan2553

I've often seen them picking up some shopping along with a few cans of Dutch gold. No wait, I don't. Why would shops be selling alcohol below cost?

L1011

shruikan2553 wrote: »

I've often seen them picking up some shopping along with a few cans of Dutch gold. No wait, I don't. Why would shops be selling alcohol below cost?

Its the slabs / boxed bottles that are sold below cost; those are usually bought by adults who are doing the shopping at the same time (mainly because you need a car or arms of steel to bring them any distance; short of ripping it open and in to a backpack).

Shelflife

Look it lads, its simply a bill that has all the hall marks of the Vintners assoc all over it.

Lets tax alcohol, but not alcohol that we sell in the pubs coz thats good stuff, you want to tax the bad stuff in the off licences.

Off licences they are quare bad evil places where you can buy alcohol fiece cheap and then drown yourself in in at home and your body will never be found.

We sell in our pristine pubs good alcohol which we have over priced so much that its hard to get drunk here, in fact no one ever gets drunk in our establishments and if they even get a little tipsey sure we refuse to serve them and give them a lift home and tuck them into bed with a glass of water beside them.

Sure arent publicans only wonderful.

They did the same thing with the closing times for off licences, even though the accepted truth was that it had little or no effect on anti social behavior, they still managed to get it through.

For some reason they have alot of political clout, and while the idea doesnt make sense, it suits them to have the off license prices go up.