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A Pint Now Costs $15 After Inflation Hike So Here Come The Beer Fears

brb googling "how to brew beer in communal sharehouse bath".

by Charles Rushforth  2 August 2022

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The woeful inflation that has rocked Australian households simply trying to heat their homes or enjoy a healthy head of lettuce has now arrived to ravage the price of a schooner at your local.

After a CPI indexation review, the Australian Tax Office has officially raised the alcohol excise by four percent — the highest increase in over thirty years.

With the average price of a pint now all the way up to $15, Australia now has the fourth highest tax on alcohol in the world — behind Norway, Japan, and Finland.

The alcohol excise which is increased twice yearly will now see the tax on a keg of full-strength beer at a pub rise by about $4, with the tax on an individual pint of beer rising to 84 cents.

CEO of the Brewers Association of Australia John Preston said that the increases will hurt punters and venues equally over the coming months.

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“Sadly, we’re now seeing the impact as pub patrons will soon be faced with the prospect of regularly paying around $15 for a pint at their local,” Mr Preston said in a statement. “For a small pub, club or other venue the latest tax hike will mean an increase of more than $2,700 a year in their tax bill – at a time when they are still struggling to deal with the on-going impacts of the pandemic.”

Blaming the economic decisions of the former Morrison government for the record high excise increases, Mr Preston said that the current government still had time to review how alcohol is taxed in Australia before it is increased again in early 2023.

“This is a problem that the new Treasurer has inherited from his predecessors and there are many competing demands on the Budget. Nonetheless, we believe there is a strong case for beer tax relief to be provided by the new Federal Government – with the hidden beer tax to go up again in February 2023.”

While I’m sure that the new tax increases will inspire a fresh generation of broke share house dwellers to invest in brewing their own alcohol, please remember that despite the obvious financial very benefits if you don’t wash everything correctly it’s very easy to end up with an expensive bucket of mould rather than cost-price hooch.