Wine Tax in Singapore (revised)

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In this year's Budget speech, the Singapore Finance Minister has announced changes in the liquor tax which will also affect wine taxes. The move would be towards taxing liquors on the basis of alcoholic content, rather than on the basis of volume. Currently beer and stout are taxed on the basis of their alcoholic strength. However, other liquors like wine, whisky, and brandy are still taxed based on volume. With immediate effect, all alcoholic beverages will be taxed on the basis of their alcoholic content.

How does this affect the price of our wines? Based on the table below, not much, only some wines slightly on the higher side. But unlikely to be discerning to the wine consumer.

15% vol (which is the high alcoholic end of wines, e.g. overly ripened Aussie wines) will attract taxes of 15% X S$70 = S$10.50 per litre, compared with S$9.50 per litre currently.

For wines of an average nature, e.g. French Bordeaux with alcholic content ranging from 12-14%, the taxes attracted will be between S$8.40 to S$ 9.80 per litre. Therefore a price revision of at most a dollar both ways. The fluctuations in the Euro or the Aussie dollar would likely to have a high impact than the revision in this tax structure. Overall, the wine tax structure is still competitive compared to countries such as Thailand and HongKong. And hopefully it remains or gets even more competitive, benefitting wine lovers like us!

Well, the assessment above is based on the assumption that the alcohol levels stay within the existing ranges and wine-makers do not jump on the bandwagon of "more alcohol is better" mentality.