Excise duties hit wine industry hard

Minister of Finance Trevor Manual’s increase in the excise duties on natural wine, spirits and tobacco products is bad news for the wine industry. “The extra 7,3% duty on natural wine and 11% on spirits amount to total increases of 105% and 72% in excise duties respectively over the past five years – this is while average prices for grapes have dropped by 30% over the same period,” said Abrie Botha, Vinpro chairperson. “Inopportune as it may be, at least we’ve now reached the targets set by Minister Manual five years ago and can look to the future with only inflationary adjustments.” But Western Cape minister of agriculture Cobus Dowry has reacted with concern, saying this trend of excise increases is bringing us closer to the situation where government will earn more from taxes than the industry itself. He has pledged to take this matter up with Manual, as he believes the wine industry is unfairly burdened with a tax that offers no direct benefit to the Western Cape agricultural sector. – Wouter Kriel