Why Irish whiskey is more expensive in Ireland?

cibala · 22-04-2018 4:18pm #1

I found Irish whiskey is more expensive in Ireland than my country Taiwan.
I cannot figure out why, could you give me some hints?

Here are the Irish whiskey price (After Tax) in Taiwan.

Jameson 700ml: 550 NTD ~= € 16
Connemara 700ml original: 1300 NTD ~= € 36
Tullamore Dew 700ml: 715 NTD ~= € 20
Bushmills 700ml: 600 NTD ~= € 17
Teeling Small Batch Blended Irish Whiskey 700ml: 1250 NTD ~= € 35

Irish price reference: O'Briens

Alkers · 22-04-2018 4:24pm

Duty?

Dial Hard · 22-04-2018 5:00pm

Because it's taxed up the hoo-haa here. Duty and then VAT on top of the duty-paid price.

banie01 · 22-04-2018 5:00pm

Duty on distilled Spirits here is huge.

rubadub · 22-04-2018 7:00pm

Duty aside the manufacturers can simply decide to charge more or less in other countries.

Aviva stadium threatened to import guinness back from the UK after it was exported from here. There was no duty scam going on, it was simply since guinness were charging far more here for wholesale prices.

L1011 · 22-04-2018 9:14pm

rubadub wrote: »

Duty aside the manufacturers can simply decide to charge more or less in other countries.

Jameson, Tullamore Dew Black Bush can be significantly dearer abroad in countries where the tax take isn't as hard - they're all sold at a low enough pre-tax price here but in some countries they're priced very premium. Not everywhere clearly; although the pre-tax price is often higher than here.

Tullamore Dew is actually bigger than Jameson as the default Irish in some countries at this stage; whereas here its often available for 20-22 a bottle and would be seen as the least premium of those three.

The UK actually has markedly higher duty on stronger beers than here yet they are still generally cheaper in shops and bars.

TheRiverman · 22-04-2018 9:25pm

Screwed by punitive duty/tax by successive Governments.

osarusan · 22-04-2018 9:29pm

I was always shocked to be able to buy bottles of Jameson in Tokyo for 16 euros, as well as bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label for 20.

I even wondered if it would be possible to start a business buying such whiskies and importing (or reimporting) them to Ireland.

Creamy Goodness · 22-04-2018 9:35pm

osarusan wrote: »

I was always shocked to be able to buy bottles of Jameson in Tokyo for 16 euros, as well as bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label for 20.

I even wondered if it would be possible to start a business buying such whiskies and importing (or reimporting) them to Ireland.

I would hazard a guess at no.

L1011 · 22-04-2018 10:00pm

osarusan wrote: »

I was always shocked to be able to buy bottles of Jameson in Tokyo for 16 euros, as well as bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label for 20.

I even wondered if it would be possible to start a business buying such whiskies and importing (or reimporting) them to Ireland.

No, because by the time you pay Irish vat and duty on them you'll be dearer than they are already sold for here. Even if you manage to get a tax refund on export and dirt cheap shipping you are looking at no margin worth it.

Remember that with distributor support you can get Jameson for 18 euro at Christmas most years; and JW Black has been 26 in Tesco at times. You'd be undercut out of business even if you found something with enough margin.

cibala · 22-04-2018 11:16pm

Found an article talking about this.
http://www.liquidirish.com/2007/12/drinking-for-your-country-whiskey-and.html?m=1

"Jameson (40% ABV) costs you €26, how much are you donating to the Exchequer?

€26 includes 21% VAT so the amount of VAT is €4.51. The duty is 40% x 0.7l x €39.25 which is €10.99.

So total taxes are €4.51 + €10.99 = €15.50. As a percentage of the final price paid, that's 59.6%"

L1011 · 22-04-2018 11:58pm

Both duty and VAT are higher now than 2007. 42.57 for the 39.25 in those figures and 23% VAT.

osarusan · 23-04-2018 10:50am

L1011 wrote: »

No, because by the time you pay Irish vat and duty on them you'll be dearer than they are already sold for here. Even if you manage to get a tax refund on export and dirt cheap shipping you are looking at no margin worth it.

Remember that with distributor support you can get Jameson for 18 euro at Christmas most years; and JW Black has been 26 in Tesco at times. You'd be undercut out of business even if you found something with enough margin.

You already put more thought into the business than I ever did!

L1011 · 23-04-2018 11:59am

osarusan wrote: »

You already put more thought into the business than I ever did!

I costed a spirits business a few years ago, don't have the capital to do it but it means I've got some figures stuck in my head.

rubadub · 23-04-2018 12:10pm

L1011 wrote: »

Both duty and VAT are higher now than 2007. 42.57 for the 39.25 in those figures and 23% VAT.

yeah,

so 700ml x 40% has duty of €11.91 (typical whiskey)
700ml 37.5% is €11.17 (typical vodka)

So a bottle of vodka at €13.74 just covers the VAT & duty, but you can get several bottles below that price in supermarkets.

A few weeks ago Smirnoff was €20 for a 1L in tesco

VAT on that is €3.74, duty is €15.96, so €19.70 in taxes.

CastielJ · 23-04-2018 3:25pm

yes it cause of tax, in some countries whiskey is pretty cheap

Accidentally · 25-04-2018 4:17pm

In German supermarkets for 700ml
Jameson 17-19
Bushmills single malt 28
JW Red I've seen as low as 11
Tullamore normally the same or a little more expensive than Jameson.

odyssey06 · 26-04-2018 9:24am

Tullamore Dew pricing is bizarre, even in Ireland. Shows online with RRP €20 in Tesco and €31 in Supervalu!

Seems to be heavily pushed abroad for use in Irish Coffees.

RhubarbCrumble · 03-05-2018 11:17pm

Duty is horrendous. I bought a litre of Jameson in Spain last year for €17. Will be stocking up on a few more this year!

Why Irish whiskey is more expensive in Ireland?

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