Hello fellow Alberta wine lovers! We're writing today to share our concern about a significant new tax that was recently announced on wine sales in Alberta and to ask that you consider writing a letter in opposition if you share our view.
For context, on February 27th, the same day the Government of Alberta announced their new budget, we received a letter from the AGLC informing us of significant new taxes on wine in Alberta. In addition to the taxes already in place on all alcoholic products, the government announced that all wines with an invoice price of over $15.00 per litre would be subject to a new ad valorem markup. This means that as of April 1st, all wines greater than approximately $20 per bottle retail will see a minimum 5% tax added and, at the top level, a 15% increase, which is astonishing! This is going to have a major impact on the pricing of wine in Alberta - to pick an example that everyone will likely be familiar with, the wholesale cost of Veuve Clicquot Champagne is set to rise $6 per bottle on April 1st!
Since privatization in 1993, we have built up a world-class wine culture here in Alberta and are truly competitive on a world stage in terms of selection and price. That is largely due to the fact that the government got out of the way and allowed private companies to control the retail sales and importation of wine, all while maintaining robust contributions to the provincial coffers from the taxes that are currently in place on wine, beer and spirits.
This new tax rate is going to largely erase that “Alberta advantage” in terms of quality wine, putting our pricing in line with the monopoly provinces, including Ontario and BC.
The worst part about this is that the government essentially tried to slide this new tax under our collective noses with no consultation and very little notice. The Alberta government has also refused to directly answer our questions about why this new tax is in place and doesn’t seem to be able to show where all of this new revenue will go. They have also singled out wine - beer and spirits are not impacted by this new ad valorem tax - which also raises even more questions about the intention of this new tax.
As fellow wine lovers, I thought it was important that you were aware of this new tax if you weren’t already, and I would also ask, if you feel as strongly as I do about this, that you send a letter by email to ministersa@gov.ab.ca and premier@gov.ab.ca voicing your concern. I’ve also called the MLA for my personal riding, as well as the MLAs from the ridings for all of our businesses, so if you’d like to take it a step further, I would encourage you to do so as well!
If it’s easier to work from a template, we’ve included a link below to capture the main points, but again, please feel free to send a letter in any form you see fit.
- Jesse Willis, Partner
