I move:—
(1) That in lieu of the present Customs duties in respect of wine, there shall (subject to the provisions of this Resolution) be charged, levied, and paid as on and from the 22nd day of April, 1926, the following Customs duties on all wine imported into Saorstát Eireann, that is to say,
|
Wine— |
£ |
s. |
d. |
|
Not exceeding 30 degrees of proof spirit, the gallon |
0 |
5 |
0 |
|
Exceeding 30 but not exceeding 42 degrees of proof spirit, the gallon |
0 |
12 |
0 |
|
And for every degree or fraction of a degree, beyond the highest above charged, an additional duty, the gallon |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
Sparkling wine in bottle, an additional duty, the gallon |
1 |
5 |
0 |
|
Still wine in bottle, an additional duty, the gallon |
0 |
4 |
0 |
(2) That the provisions of Section 8 of the Finance Act, 1919, shall apply to the duties mentioned in this Resolution with the substitution of the expression "Saorstát Eireann" for the expression "Great Britain and Ireland."
(3) That, for the purposes of this Resolution, wine rendered sparkling or effervescent and bottled in the warehouse shall be deemed to be sparkling wine imported in bottle, and upon delivery for home consumption shall be charged with the duty imposed on sparkling wine by this Resolution, and the time when the wine is entered for home consumption shall be deemed to be the time of importation.
(4) That in this Resolution the word "wine" includes the lees of wine.
(5) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1913.
This is a resolution increasing the duty on wine. As the Deputies will see, the duties, even the new duties proposed, are very low indeed. Under the old scale the ordinary bottle of white wine that sold for 5/-, 6/-, or 7/- paid a duty of about 5d. Under the new arrangement it would pay a duty of about 10d. The prices at which wine is purchased outside this country bear absolutely no relation to the prices at which they are sold here, even allowing for importation and other duties. It is one of the things on which somehow or other there are enormous rates of profit as between the producer, as you might say, and the ultimate consumer. The duty comes, perhaps, a little more sharply in the case of sparkling wine, champagne or such wines, which are either imported in bottles, or are here in warehouses converted into sparkling wine. Even in that case the extra duty is only £1 5s. Having regard to the price at which these commodities are sold there will be no need to pass the duty on to the consumer. Probably to some extent it may be passed on, but if it is passed on it will not, we believe, very greatly decrease the consumption.
It will still leave the charge on wine, having regard to the alcoholic content, lower by far than the spirit duty, and lower than the charge on beer.
