For all the BINGE drinkers....

[smac]

TV Tax? That sounds pretty ordinary.

[heater31]

TV Tax? That sounds pretty ordinary.

surely that is the same here I forget the figure but it goes towards funding the ABC?

[smac]

8c per day is what it was last time I heard something about it, but it isn't a specific TV Tax.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

I just read this website - you need to buy a licence to watch any kind of TV. What a rort!

[JAS]

8c per day is what it was last time I heard something about it, but it isn't a specific TV Tax.

http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/information/index.jsp

I just read this website - you need to buy a licence to watch any kind of TV. What a rort!

As far as I know we've always needed a tv license, however I think quite a few take the chance and don't bother...penalty if caught...is going to court and up to £1000 fine (Ithink thats about 2100$AU). Mind you people will go to some extreme lengths to try and get out of it...here's the top ten excuses from 2007

Top ten

* "My wife has her hair done twice a week and so we find it difficult to pay"
* "You'll have to excuse me but I can't think straight, my girlfriend has hit me on the head with a hammer, but I thoroughly deserved it"
* "My granny's 77, she doesn't live here but can I get her free licence as she hasn't got a TV?"
* "I couldn't make my last payment as my baby was sick on my shoulder and I didn't want to go to the shop smelling of sick because the guy I fancy works there"
* "I haven't renewed my licence because my wife flushed it down the toilet, along with my wallet"
* "I can't use my [savings] card because my husband's a chef and I have used it to scrub the pans. Plastic cards are the best things for getting dirty pans clean"
* "Only the children watch the TV, do you get a child discount?"
* "I haven't renewed my licence because I don't have time to watch TV. I'm too busy having vigorous sex with my wife.
* "That's not a TV, that's an ornament; my mother gave it to me." "What's that showing on the ornament?" "EastEnders"
* "My husband has just spent £3000 on this massive panoramic flat digital TV so we can't possibly afford a TV Licence, sorry."

...and even you Aussies don't escape this...a couple of excuses from 2005

In keeping with the animal-related excuses, one person said the TV had been broken since "my daughter tried to feed the kittens on Rolf's Animal Hospital".

And another viewer reasoned: "I don't need a TV licence because I only watch Australian soaps and as far as I'm aware you don't need a licence in Australia."

Regards
JAS

[Golo#46]

When it comes to beer and ciggie excise... the point is to moderate demand for these products.
More taxes on alcohol are most likely designed to reduce consumption by underage drinkers who are incredibly price sensitive, or are very price inelastic (or elastic - not 100% sure which). This means that if you put prices up a little, then underage drinkers reduce consumption... and the rest of us are punished.

[JAS]

The problem is that just slapping on price increases doesn't seem to make much difference. If they want to drink they will find a way to get it. It's a huge problem here in Scotland. Councils have the power to revoke alcohol licenses of those found selling to underage drinkers but they haven't been enforcing it. Parents in some cases at least should be held responsible as they have provided the drink to their kids. I hope it works for you guys but I don't think it will never be as simple as increasing prices...and I agree it's those who enjoy a drink in a responsible manner that are made to suffer for the behaviour of others.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7375098.stm

Regards
JAS

[redden whites]

Speed Cameras.....

Red light cameras....

Parking tickets...

Voluntary taxation..........Can't be much fairer than that . Triple them today I reckon

[Golo#46]

The problem is that just slapping on price increases doesn't seem to make much difference. If they want to drink they will find a way to get it. It's a huge problem here in Scotland. Councils have the power to revoke alcohol licenses of those found selling to underage drinkers but they haven't been enforcing it. Parents in some cases at least should be held responsible as they have provided the drink to their kids. I hope it works for you guys but I don't think it will never be as simple as increasing prices...and I agree it's those who enjoy a drink in a responsible manner that are made to suffer for the behaviour of others.

Yeah, I agree it probably won't - it'll just inconvenience the rest of us - I was trying to explain the theory behind said tax increase. Mind you, people have already started switching from RTDs to mixing them themselves. I assume underage drinkers would do the same. I am assuming the tax was just for RTDs which are supposedly popular with underage drinkers, though.

[Psyber]

Have you seen the Yahoo poll today. The distribution of comments is interesting, and I re-arranged the Yahoo order to emphasise the pattern, showing beer purists at one end and total non-drinkers of alcohol at the other. I don't know if the percentages quoted are representative of the wider community.

I fit into the 30%, and I would be curious about the spread of what that group do drink... in my case beer, wine, and spirits.

Q. Has the alcopops tax made you switch to harder liquor?
No, I just love beer 11% 1564 votes
Yes, they are pricey 43% 6083 votes
I don't drink alcopops 30% 4231 votes
I don't drink alcohol 16% 2183 votes

[LBT]

Bottled (700ml) spirit sales have gone up over 100% in the 3 weeks at my work. Young Binge drinkers are now buying a bottle of vodka/bourbon/scotch etc and a mixer....Cost $27-$40 and 20-24 standard drinks rather than a 6pk of premix "alcopops" now costing between $20 and $33 and including 8-14 standard drinks....no doubt these people are now drinking more. Kevin Rudd...you were wrong

[Psyber]

Bottled (700ml) spirit sales have gone up over 100% in the 3 weeks at my work. Young Binge drinkers are now buying a bottle of vodka/bourbon/scotch etc and a mixer....Cost $27-$40 and 20-24 standard drinks rather than a 6pk of premix "alcopops" now costing between $20 and $33 and including 8-14 standard drinks....no doubt these people are now drinking more. Kevin Rudd...you were wrong

But populist - it is in the nature iof the breed...

[Psyber]

Speed Cameras.....
Red light cameras....
Parking tickets...

Voluntary taxation..........Can't be much fairer than that . Triple them today I reckon

Add the Poker machine on street corners, with the Heroin and other drug dispenser next to it, and we can scrap income tax and the GST and go over entirely to voluntary taxation - sounds good to me!

[brod]

The underage drinking problems have claimed another victim.........COOKING ESSENCES.

Due to underage people buying these products in large qunatities major supermarkets have removed them from shelf, awaiting further legal adivce regarding their sale. This situation ocurs in the NT, where 50ml is the max size for essences, as well as other measures such as the non sale/colouring of metho to avoid consumption and resticted sale of Listerine and other mouth wash products that contain alcohol.

[Dog_ger]

Save the "Murray Tax" worked real well....

Buy a bottle and mix your own before they Tax it outa reach

[Psyber]

I found this while looking for a conversion chart for various systems of rating blood levels.
Could be handy!

http://www.nt.gov.au/health/healthdev/a ... eter.shtml

[Magpiespower]

I just read this website - you need to buy a licence to watch any kind of TV. What a rort!

Australians had to pay a TV licence until Whitlam abolished it in 1974.

Dunno if they still do this in England but...

The licence police would come knocking at doors to check if TV owners had a licence.

There would always be a mad scramble to hide the TV while someone stalled them at the front door...

[gadj1976]

sorry guys, I haven't read all of the posts so if I'm duplicating anything already I apologise.

The most stupid tax I've heard of is the equalisation tax for wine. As someone in a previous post already mentioned, the tax on grog should've dropped because the hidden taxes were replaced by the GST. Because wine would've dropped astronomically, the government introduced the equalisation tax.

[gadj1976]

Bottled (700ml) spirit sales have gone up over 100% in the 3 weeks at my work. Young Binge drinkers are now buying a bottle of vodka/bourbon/scotch etc and a mixer....Cost $27-$40 and 20-24 standard drinks rather than a 6pk of premix "alcopops" now costing between $20 and $33 and including 8-14 standard drinks....no doubt these people are now drinking more. Kevin Rudd...you were wrong

LBT, I normally buy cans of bourbon & coke but because the price has gone up, I went for the 700ml spirit, two for $55.

A carton of bourbon & coke would now cost me about $60.

Actually I've just checked boozle.com.au and it's now $77 - $84! The top of the range stuff is now $100.

[Pseudo]

There would always be a mad scramble to hide the TV while someone stalled them at the front door...

Heh... "Vyv, eat the telly!"

[Psyber]

sorry guys, I haven't read all of the posts so if I'm duplicating anything already I apologise.

The most stupid tax I've heard of is the equalisation tax for wine. As someone in a previous post already mentioned, the tax on grog should've dropped because the hidden taxes were replaced by the GST. Because wine would've dropped astronomically, the government introduced the equalisation tax.

Ahh... if only John Hewson had won the election with "Fightback" in 1993. From memory I think in return for a 15% GST on everything we were going to lose all the hidden taxes - including those on alcohol and fuel. I'm not quite sure - I didn't keep the literature from the time.

The exemptions and lower rate of GST meant some of these were retained.