... and yet more taxes on pleasure. This time having to be soaked by the wine-bellies of men and women in an industry already in economic crisis.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/ne...

Quote:

Most New Zealand winegrowers have no plans to increase wine prices in spite of a four cent per bottle tax which has just come into effect.

Of the wineries surveyed on whether they intended to pass on the increase, 84 percent have indicated they will be forced to absorb the cost.

Philip Gregan, CEO of New Zealand Winegrowers, says many wineries are already suffering financially.

"Times are tough and tax increases with the excise increase and the GST increase further down the track later this year are just going to make times that much tougher for every one of our producers.

"The simple fact is the market will not accept price increases and wineries have no option but to absorb the tax rise."

Mr Gregan says the survey also revealed that this is not the first time wineries have been forced into the position of absorbing annual tax rises. He says of the more than 170 wineries which responded to the survey, 80 percent indicated they had not increased prices in the past three years and 48 percent said they had not increased prices for at least five years or had never lifted prices, despite excise rising 11.6 percent since 1 June 2006. Thirty-two percent of wineries indicated they had in fact lowered prices in recent years despite annual excise increases.

Mr Gregan says in the end, it is not good for consumers, as vineyards will go out of business.

"This survey highlights the serious financial pain annual excise increases are causing our small and medium wineries because excise is a production and not a consumption tax. It also makes abundantly clear that those who want higher rates of excise as part of the Sale of Liquor reform will only succeed in putting wineries out of business. That would be bad news for tourism, bad news for the hospitality sector and bad news for the economy."

And in other news, ETS, ACC increases, excise increases, GST increases, Peter the Persecutor bragging about how much taxpayer money he has extorted to persecute taxpayers with through IRD audit: it's now official. We are the stupidest country in the world, letting our politicians bully us like this. Time for the revolution (is way past).

...manages to make the UK, with its anti-alcohol leagues, look like a debauched booze nation.

Over here not only can you buy spirits in supermarkets and corner shops (which you can't in NZ) - they also sell a cut-price "basic" version of vodka, gin, etc....

There ia also a chain of shops in the UK called "Bargain Booze" - and the name is appropriate.

Thankfully the Government did not raise alcohol duty in the last budget even though they are trying to cut the deficit.

UK voters still need to drown their sorrows after eleven years of Nu Labour