On February 28th, Alberta-based liquor licensees received a bulletin from Alberta Gaming Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC) informing us that as of April 1st, additional taxes will be applied to what they bizarrely refer to as “high end wine”. There was no prior consultation with importers, retailers and restaurateurs, nor did the bulletin announce why the egregious increases in taxes were being implemented.
Traditionally, all wine sold in Alberta has been subjected to a flat tax of $4.11 per litre, or $3.08 per 750mL bottle. This flat tax has been increased by 15 cents per bottle, and an additional ad valorem tax will be added to “high end wine” — namely, a wine that wholesales for $15 per litre ($11.25 per 750mL bottle) and higher… High end indeed! This would be like applying an ad valorem tax to “high end” cheese and defining that as anything that exceeds the price of Cheez Whiz.
The additional impending taxes will work upon a complicated three-tier scale. The details of its structuring can be found here, along with a helpful explication of the financial impact that this will have on you, the final consumer.
Here’s a few things to keep in mind:
If you’re the kind of wine drinker who enjoys bottles that currently cost more than approximately $16 at a retail shop, you will soon be paying more for your wine, and exponentially more if you enjoy “truly” high end wine.
Wine producers, importers, retailers and restaurateurs will not financially benefit in any way from this new “hidden” tax. When you’re soon forced to either pay more for the wines you’re accustomed to drinking, or to compromise the quality that you’re used to in order to adhere to your budget, please do not blame the producer or the purveyor.
Perhaps unintentionally, this tax kicks in at a pricepoint whereby the wine in question might be made by an individual, a family or a small independent business who farms their own vineyards. Any wine inexpensive enough to avoid the new taxes can only be the result of industrial farming and winemaking.
For the same reasons, this new tax penalises those who wish to support wines that have been grown and produced in a way that’s friendly (or at least not actively deleterious) to the environment.
This tax exclusively impacts wine as a category, which strikes us as unfair but also very odd, as “high end wine” — as the AGLC calls it — is certainly the category of alcoholic beverage that’s least likely to be abused. In other words, the tax penalises a significant portion of drinkers who consider wine to be a compelling beverage for reasons beyond its potential for intoxication.
It may sound elitist, but it has to be said that this tax penalises wine drinkers with good taste.
Alberta’s climate precludes us from producing our own wine, and our provincial wine industry therefore relies on imports. We are already burdened with the highest shipping rates that we’ve seen in our careers, a weak Canadian dollar and the dizzying inflation that’s ubiquitous to all industries. This new tax would never be welcomed with open arms, but the Alberta Government’s timing is perplexing, insulting and potentially debilitating for those of us who love authentic wine.
If this new tax is as infuriating to you as it is to us, please voice your opinion to the Ministry of Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction at ministersa@gov.ab.ca.
Sincerely,
Your friends at Metrovino
