IWA: High excise and Brexit make for ‘perfect storm’
The Irish Wine Association has launched its annual Irish Wine Market Report, which once again calls on the government to reduce alcohol excise in the upcoming Budget
Print6 September 2016
The Irish Wine Association has launched its Irish Wine Market Report 2015, in which it calls once again for a 15% reduction in Ireland’s alcohol excise in the upcoming Budget 2017. As well as driving prices up for consumers, a high excise rate – referred to as “penal” by the IWA – is bad for jobs and tourism, the report says.
Alcohol excise has increased by 62% since 2012, creating significant cash flow issues for distributors due to the requirement that many have to pay an up-front excise of €38,240 per 1,000 cases.
The Irish Wine Market report 2015 also notes Britain’s looming EU exit, and urges the government to consider its potential negative impact on Ireland’s wine market. The weak Sterling will drive cross-border shopping (already a popular pursuit in the northwest and elsewhere), eventually creating a “perfect storm” for Ireland’s wine industry.
Irish consumers continue to pay the highest excise on wine in the European Union with Ireland’s excise rate per standard €9 bottle equates to €3.19, more than 12% more expensive than the UK. Fourteen European countries pay NO excise on a bottle of wine.
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