Members voted 29 to 14 against an amendment proposed by Deputy Rowland Huelin, which means that certain drinks will be subject to sizeable price increases, if the overall plan is approved this week.
Proposed hikes include inflation plus 8.9% on high-strength beer, cider and wine and inflation plus 10.9% rises on spirits. Lower-strength beer and cider and low-strength wine would only be subject to inflation level rises.
Outlining his proposals, Deputy Huelin said that drinkers were an easy target for tax rises, and health issues had been used as an ‘excuse’ to do this.
‘Continually taxing drinks over the last decade has been easy and rich pickings for our governments and governments across the world,’ he said.
‘If the policy of putting up the price of alcohol had been so successful, we would all now be tee-totallers.’
He was supported by Assistant Treasury Minister Lindsay Ash, a strong campaigner for restricting price hikes on alcohol, who pointed out that other unhealthy food and drink, such as coffee, was not taxed.
‘Coffee has health and environmental problems but do we tax coffee? No – we always go back to the good old drinker,’ he said.
In response, Treasury Minister Susie Pinel said that alcohol duties were an ‘important contributor to funding public services’.
She added: ‘Approximately 90% of taxpayers are receiving above-inflation increases in tax threshold exemptions, which they will benefit from.
‘In return we are asking consumers to pay more in alcohol, tobacco and fuel duties.’
She added that Jersey had one of the highest alcohol consumption rates in Europe.
‘It is necessary to tax alcohol to tackle excessive consumption,’ she said
A number of backbenchers raised concerns about the impact of the impôt hikes on the hospitality industry and urged the government to complete its ‘long-overdue’ review of the liquor licensing law.
