Previously, a bottle of Merlot from Dirty Laundry Winery in Summerland cost $29.99 when you plucked it off the shelf at a liquor store in Alberta.
Today, that same bottle is $35.49 thanks to Alberta's new 'ad valorem' wine tax.
And, a bottle of Dirty Laundry's high-end Bordello red, which used to be $44.99, is now $54.49.
“I feel for our Albertan customers that fell in love with our, and other BC winery products to now face this unnecessary added cost," said Paul Sawler, vice-president of Dirty Laundry Winery
"That’s deeply frustrating for consumers who want to support Canadian producers and are already facing challenges relating to rising cost of living.”
Ad valorem, by the way, is a fancy Latin way of saying a tax based on value.
As such, wine valued at $15 to $20 a litre is taxed an extra 5%, wine valued at $20 to $25 per litre is hit with 10% and wine valued at $25 or more a litre is slammed with 15% additional tax.
Alberta used to be a bastion of low and no taxes.
Yet, last year it slapped a new tax of up to 15% on not just Okanagan wines, but all wines sold in the province.
And, now the BC and Canadian wine industries, wine importers and Alberta's liquor and hospitality sectors have banned together to demand the tax be killed.
"At a time when the rest of Canada is working to open trade between provinces, Alberta’s new wine tax penalizes Canadian wine, raises prices for consumers, and undermines the progress governments have been working toward on internal free trade," said Jeff Guignard, CEO of Wine Growers British Columbia
Spokespeople from a coalition of Wine Growers BC, Wine Growers Canada, Alberta Liquor Store Association, Alberta Hospitality Association, Restaurants Canada and Import Vintners & Spirits Association gathered this week at Metrovino wine store in Calgary to make their case and demand the new wine tax be scrapped.
“The average wholesale price increase on the wine we have brought in since the ad valorem wine tax was implemented is $6.85 a bottle," explained Isaiah Santos of Metrovino.
"As a small business we are forced to either eat that cost ourselves or pass it on directly to the consumer.”
Spokesperson after spokesperson pointed out how the new wine tax hurts consumers, liquor stores, importers, restaurants and wineries because higher prices means less bottles sold and less bottles sold means less revenue and profit.
The coalition also pointed out that all this is particularly ironic when the Alberta goverment says its committed to reducing interprovincial trade barriers (such as BC wine to Alberta) and making life more affordable for Albertans.
The coalition wants the tax thrown out and to work with the Alberta government on a solution that supports wineries, consumers and businesses and respects interprovincial agreements and upholds the spirt of free trade within Canada.
Thumbnail photo courtesy of Tourism Kelowna.
