Irish alcohol excise is second highest in Europe, study finds
Irish consumers pay the second-highest alcohol excise duties in Europe. Excise and VAT make up half the price of an off-licence bottle of wine.
· The Island · 2 min read
Irish consumers pay the second-highest excise duty on alcohol in Europe, according to new research reported on Thursday, with excise and VAT making up half the price of an off-licence bottle of wine.
What happened
The study puts Ireland near the top of the European ranking for alcohol excise, with consumers paying more than in all but one other European country. The reports did not identify the country ranked first.
The comparison concerns excise duty, a tax charged on alcohol products. The separate finding on wine includes VAT, the consumption tax applied at the point of sale. Taken together, those charges account for half of what a customer pays for a bottle bought from an off-licence.
That calculation describes the final retail price rather than the underlying price of the wine itself. The supplied reports do not provide a breakdown of the remaining half or set out the study’s methodology.
Why it matters
The figures put the tax burden on an everyday alcohol purchase in plain terms for consumers. They also give drinks companies and off-licence operators a measure of how Irish alcohol taxation compares with other European markets.
For policymakers, the result adds to the evidence around the cost of alcohol taxation. It may inform future debate over excise rates, but the reports do not describe a proposed change or recommend a policy response.