30% of the Price of an Irish Pint is Tax
The Support Your Local campaign in Ireland has tallied up how much tax, on average, Irish consumers are paying on a pint at their local pubs, with the latest figures revealing that 30% of the price of a pint now goes straight to the Exchequer.
Ireland is now the most expensive country in the world to buy alcohol, with beer excise up by a staggering 44% since 2012.
The Support Your Local campaign, which is backed by publicans, restaurants, hotels, independent off-licences and drinks suppliers has said that an excise reversal on alcohol would help create jobs. For example, a beer duty cut in the UK created 26,000 jobs.
Since 2011, the average price of a pint in a bar has increased by €0.36, with 78% of this increase going straight to the Exchequer. Beer tax is 56% lower in Germany, accounting for €0.79 on the average pint of beer.
Bart Storan, Campaign Manager for Support Your Local, says: “In less than 12 months (between December 2012 and October 2013) the Irish government increased excise on beer by 44%, excise on spirits by 37%, and excise on wine by 62%. We are calling on the Government to reverse excise on alcohol in the next Budget. Excise Duty is a tax that we can no longer afford – a tax on the hard-pressed Irish consumers. If you’re going to facilitate growth in this sector and get people back in the pub, the Government needs to reverse this tax.”
He adds: “In Ireland, the drinks and hospitality industry employs 92,000 people in every corner of the island, buys €1.1 billion worth of Irish inputs, and offers a unique hospitality experience, renowned internationally, in the pubs of Ireland.”
