The new fiscal year starts on April first. That's Saturday - and while it may be April Fool's day, don't be fooled when you see increased prices on beer and rum. That's the effect of the sin tax government is levying through which they hope to raise almost 30 million dollars in additional revenue. So, the tax is steep but yesterday in the Senate, the Senator for the church said, he wishes it would be higher:...
Hon. Ashley Rocke- Senator for Churches
"It is noted with great enthusiasm the hiking of taxes for spiritual drinks. Honestly it would not have bothered me if the tax were increased more. Alcohol as we know can be blamed, in past and present time, for a great number of road traffic accidents and deaths, homicides in our homes, spousal and child abuse, problem among our youths who wantonly abuse the freedom of access to wildly use drugs wherever and whenever they can find it. We believe the family of our homes have been greatly disenfranchised because of this scourge. We are praying that this hike may serve as a deterrent."
So how much will the cost of a quart of rum go up on April first? Well, some in the alcohol industry have told us it could be as much as five dollars per quart, which would be about a 50% increase. As for a bottle of local beer, it seems the price on that hasn't been finalized yet either, and we could not get a comment from the company. We know that various affected groups are having last minute consultations with government to try and fine tune the tax measures.
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