‘$12’: Devastating beer news as tax is hiked

Aussies are facing the biggest hikes in beer prices in 30 years, as an increase in the beer tax pushes the average schooner past $12.

Yet another increase in the beer tax is set to push the price of an average schooner to a whopping $12.

The beer tax will rise again this week, with the Australian Taxation Office rising the excise by 3.7 per cent from February 1.

The tax on beer has jumped by about eight per cent in the past six months – a record increase and “the largest in over 30 years”, according to the Brewers’ Association of Australia.

The beer tax, which impacts both draught and packaged beer, increases every six months to keep pace with inflation. With the highest annual inflation in 30 years, though, the tax is increasing even more dramatically than usual.

The beer tax will ump by 3.7 per cent this week, bringing the average price of a schooner to $12.

Drinkers copped an even steeper jump in August, with the excise increasing by four per cent.

The Brewers’ Association is calling for a two-year freeze on the tax in bottle shops, and to halve the tax paid on tap beer in the pub, as they warn the price of an average schooner could soar to $12.

“People are already paying $8 a schooner in parts of Sydney — if this keeps rising like this it will be soon be surging past $12,” said Brewers’ Association boss John Preston.

“These are hidden tax increases which have been going up every six months for the past 20 years. The record increases are making it more difficult to get people back through the door.”

The tax has jumped by almost eight per cent in just six months. Picture: Fred Tanneau / AFP.

In a statement to Nine News, a spokesperson for Jim Chalmers indicated a freeze wasn’t on the table.

“This is the usual, automatic indexation change that happens twice a year under governments of both persuasions and it‘s not a new decision of this government,” the spokesperson said.

“We listen respectfully to ideas put to us but these have to be weighed up against other priorities and fiscal challenges – with a budget that’s heaving with a trillion dollars of debt.”

Australians currently pay more in beer tax than every other nation, save for Japan, Finland and Norway.

New analysis has shown that, for those looking for a cheap drink, Canberra is the most affordable capital city for beer.

The average price for a 425ml glass of beer is just $7.50 in Canberra, although prices as low as $5.50 can be found in some establishments.

Adelaide claimed the unenviable title of Australia’s most expensive beer, with the average 425ml glass — called a pint locally — costing $9.14

Originally published as ‘$12’: Devastating beer news as tax is hiked