I just paid $25.00 for a bottle of wine and another thread got me to thinking

[flstci]

If we can afford $25.00 for a bottle of wine why not add additional taxes to wine? Wine is not a necessity like gas but those who can and do consume expensive wines wouldn't mind a modest tax added to it, at least I wouldn't think they would. They are still going to drink what they want and most who can afford expensive wines would be embarrassed to present cheap wine to their guests.

Seems like a better idea to me than hitting EVERYONE at the gas pump. You buy wine by the bottle rather than the gallon so we could put an additional dollar on each bottle and end up collecting roughly $4.00/gallon.

[rucky]

1. Sin tax or luxury tax?

Wine could be an example of either.

[flstci]

7. I would suppose that would depend on if you were buying it for

the wife/husband or the mistress/boyfriend! LOL

[NashVegas]

88. A $25 Bottle Is Not a Luxury

A $75 bottle, on the other hand ...

[Lerkfish]

2. not a large enough tax base nor frequency of purchase

now, if you started taxing beer, you might have something! LOL.

[tkmorris]

8. Raise taxes on beer?

*grabs torch and pitchfork*

[panader0]

12. NOT BEER!!!

[Lerkfish]

15. okay, then, how about cheez whiz and ritz crackers?

:)

[panader0]

22. That'd be fine.. I don't eat either one.

[Lerkfish]

35. ah! the "its ok to tax everyone but me" policy! brilliant!

LOL

[flstci]

13. I don't know about that

I have a colleague who is on a mailing list for wine. They get a new case of wine each quarter and they buy more wine in between. Not to mention all the parties that go on nationwide.

We might actually recoup some of the money we have given to AIG!

[crappyjazz]

32. How do you think Canada keeps going

taxing beer was our governments best idea ever

now on to taxing weed ... :rofl:

[Fuzz]

92. Legalize it, tax it.

That's brilliant! ;)

[Donnachaidh]

69. and then you'll be seeing mini-brewers selling illegal beer.

Hell, all those folks who've lost their jobs on Wall Street could have a new enterprise start up. :rofl:

[Starry Messenger]

3. Wine is going to be a necessity of mine until Obama is safely sworn in.

Is is taxed already? Or do states have different taxes on booze? I've never thought about it.

[theboss]

4. My gosh! No one has ever thought of taxing booze before

Here's an idea.

We should tax cigarettes!

[flstci]

58. I'm good with that too. I don't smoke.

I would think that in order to target a certain market maybe we should tax cigars! Rush would shit himself.

[phantom power]

5. Sounds like a luxury tax, of sorts...

I think the logic behind gas taxes is related to considerations like climate and peak oil. A fuel tax helps to control fossil carbon consumption, by elevating the price, and simultaneously raises money that can be used to fund govt programs designed to help migrate away from fossil fuels.

[flstci]

34. Yes but it would target a different group of people than a tax on

wine would target. Not everyone enjoys wine but a lot of the big players will buy mass quantities for parties and such with no regard to price. As a matter of fact a lot of wine drinkers take actual pride in what they have paid for a bottle, we could help them with their pride! LOL

[NutmegYankee]

82. But there are also a lot of regular people drinking wine.

I myself am a big supporter of getting the US wine industry up and going on the east coast. Wine should be an everyday drink for Americans if they choose.

I myself am always against sin taxes on alcohol - I'm ethnically German, so calling drinking a sin is an affront to my heritage.

[cobalt1999]

6. That's not going to encourage people to conserve fuel though.

[flstci]

18. Sure it will, they'll be too drunk to drive! N/T

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

9. Your $25 bottle of wine was already about $22 more expensive than it should have been.

Thanks to taxes.

[flstci]

16. But another $1.00 on a bottle of wine would hit more of a 'target

market' than $1.00 on a gallon of gas. Let's face it those who are squeaking by are not buying expensive wine regularly.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

23. All wine is expensive. Some just more so than others.

Everybody ought to be able to afford wine at every dinner.

I say do away with the tax completely.

[flstci]

27. Mogen David?? I thought it was pretty reasonable when I was in the

Army! LOL Mad Dog was about $1.00/bottle.

Seriously, I don't have a problem with anyone wanting to have wine with their dinner but you could choose your poison. It isn't like taxing gas $1.00/gallon where you catch everyone at every grade. You could choose which type of wines to put the tax on and tailor it to a certain class.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

28. I wouldn't exactly call Mad Dog table wine.

"Seriously, I don't have a problem with anyone wanting to have wine with their dinner but you could choose your poison."

Poison? A glass of wine at dinner is good for you.

[flstci]

30. Poison as in tax.

Would you rather pay $1.00/gallon tax on gas or see someone taxing wine?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

31. How about we don't tax either.

And just tax rich people.

[flstci]

37. You don't think this would accomplish that? N/T

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

39. No.

Poor people drink wine and drive cars too.

[flstci]

42. What do you think 'poor' people do more? N/T

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

45. Hopefully they'd do both daily.

Assuming they can't walk or bike to work.

[flstci]

48. You hope 'poor' people are drinking a bottle of wine a day? Really?!

I just don't see that happening. I don't see that happening for most folks but when those with more cash than I have throw a party they will buy many bottles of wine.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

50. A glass of wine a day.

At least.

"I just don't see that happening."

Well no, not at these outrageous prices.

[flstci]

52. LOL

How many glasses to a bottle of wine? 6? That would last a couple 3 days. When you add a tax to gas it will be for every gallon every time they fill up.

I think a tax on wine would make more sense than a tax on gas but that is just me.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

54. Assuming you live by yourself.

You don't fill up every day, do you?

[flstci]

56. When I'm running my kids

to school functions I fill up every week to week and a half. My truck holds 37 gallons of gas. When I don't need to run my kids around I only fill up every month to month and a half.

[BlueGADawg]

81. In a restaraunt maybe!:rofl:

At my house, a bottle has 4 glasses- no whimpy restaraunt pours here! It lasts this couple one night. We buy our wine by the case from Trader Joes- Two Buck Chuck is awesome! Not everyone that drinks wine is some corporate CEO.

[Chemical Bill]

71. I work with people who share a bottle of wine at dinner.

Why is this hard to imagine?

Sorry, but any tax on consumption is likely to be regressive. Say you want a tax on boats. A guy making $50,000/yr and buying a $5,000 boat will pay more of his income than a guy making $50 mil and buying a $500,000 boat.

So why not an extra tax on the income instead?

Bill

[flstci]

73. Because I think you will get more of a fight out of the wealthy

if you tax income. If you tax wine you will be hitting the wealthy more than the poor (yes you would get some of the poor but we all need to participate).

[sniffa]

60. Not true

[Starry Messenger]

75. Shudder. n/t

[sniffa]

78. Shudderer

:puke:

[flstci]

79. LOL your picture of the woman with the black eye next to these pictures of

cheap wine is making me laugh. I know it shouldn't but it just hit my 'ironic' bone concerning the thread.

[Starry Messenger]

80. Shudderific

[JVS]

86. Green wine= total class

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

68. A bottle of French wine that costs $50.00 here costs

about 12-15 Euros in France. The tax is already exorbitant. Raise the income taxes of the top 3-5%, and steeply.

[flstci]

72. Which do you think they would

Swallow easier? Pun intended. A 3%-5% tax on income or $1.00 on a bottle of wine?

[grasswire]

10. how about a penny on each can/bottle of beverage?

The treasury would be flush.

[ret5hd]

11. So what do you think the tax is on alcohol in your state right now?

Not necessarily disagreeing with you, just saying the tax on alcohol in most places is already there.

[flstci]

21. It is already in the gas we buy as well but this would target more of

the market we are wanting/needing to target. Seems to me like wine is bought more by those of means and by corporations throwing a party of some sort. Just a thought.

[flstci]

24. As an aside it would also keep speculators at bay better in

my opinion. Who would they put their money on? French wine? American wine? Mexican wine?

[corkhead]

14. it is still not fair to those of modest means who pinch pennies to enjoy an occasional extravagance

Gasoline usage has a cost to society that is proportonate and should be taxed accordingly. the price of a bottle of wine does not.

Yes, there is a reason I am a corkhead.

[flstci]

36. Some who pinch pennies have no other alternative to gas but

they don't have to buy wine. And if they do want to buy wine it is usually for a special occasion and not on a regular basis. I think this plan would be very target specific.

[Cleita]

17. I spend $6 for a good Chilean wine at Trader Joe's.

It's one of the few things I can still afford with the stealth inflation hitting us and I need it sometimes for self-medication when bad things happen. Please don't take that away from me too. Actually all alcoholic beverages are well taxed to the max. If they weren't that $25 bottle would cost $5. It used to be that the poor working class schlub could afford a sixpack of beer and a pack of cigarettes. It was the only luxury many had and now taxation has priced these small luxuries out of the range of affordability of many workers.

[flstci]

46. But how often do you buy a bottle of wine vs. how often do you buy

a gallon of gas? I don't have much but I think I could afford an additional $1.00 on a good bottle of wine as infrequently as I buy it.

[Cleita]

49. As a Latina I drink a glass or two of wine every night with

my supper. It's part of my culture. So I purchase it every week. However that $1 occasionally isn't going to get a lot of taxes in the coffers, which is why they tax gas because people must buy it frequently.

[flstci]

53. As I said upthread

I know people who are in wine clubs and have wine mailed to them quarterly plus buy wine on the side when they find a wine they like. Those who can afford to do this are those we are most interested in targeting.

Perhaps we simply add the tax to wines over $X.xx and we don't touch other wines. I dunno, it is just a suggestion.

Note; I'll bet a gas tax would hurt you more than a tax on wine.

[valerief]

19. Some of us can only afford to buy wine by the box. nt

[Wiley50]

89. Yep, Two Americas. And people attack me when I point out the Class Stratification on DU n/t

[nichomachus]

20. How about a $25 tax on NASCAR tickets?

[Speck Tater]

25. Taxes on food should be proportional to how bad the food is for you.

No tax on fresh or frozen veggies, rice, flour, bread, chicken, and loads of tax on Cheeze Doodles, corn dogs, potato chips, pizza, and soft drinks.

Encourage people to eat healthy and national health care costs will go down.

[flstci]

57. Wine should be FREE then! =8^)

Oh, and chocolate.

[Speck Tater]

90. And beer. :)

[dkofos]

26. Instead of coming up with ways to tax US, I would rather see everyone

pay there fair share of taxes.

And by everyone I mean the corporations.

[flstci]

40. This would capture corporations as well as the wealthy. N/T

[carlyhippy]

29. sure...why not...I don't drink

Carly

[flstci]

43. Wooo Hooo see, this could work. LOL N/T

[carlyhippy]

62. LOL nt

Carly

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[flvegan]

59. Oh, you're just drunk.

[flstci]

64. LOL N/T

[Evoman]

38. Why don't we just add a huge super tax on luxury goods like yachts, jewelery, and 2nd houses.

[flstci]

51. I think, if I remember correctly, we tried the tax on yachts

to horrendous results. Seems like it put a lot of boat builders out of work.

[TroglodyteScholar]

41. Better yet...

...let's tax the shit out of top hats and monocles.

[flstci]

44. 100 years ago I would have been on your side

Sadly we have evolved. hahahahaha Thank GOD!

[TroglodyteScholar]

67. Too bad we can't tax illegally purchased cocaine and pharmaceuticals, huh..n/t

[gollygee]

47. How about taxing bottled water?

Those damn bottles are horrid for the environment. People can turn on the tap and refill refillable bottles.

[flstci]

55. I'm fine with that too but again

the reason I proposed wine is because it would be more target specific. I don't drink bottled water but I do drink the occasional bottle of wine.

[NutmegYankee]

61. You do realize that price has nothing to do with quality right?

I've had and served many $10-15 wines far better than $50 wines. Learn the grapes and the regions, and you can enjoy wines without being in the poor house.

[flstci]

63. Yes, I just like this particular wine. I don't buy it often though

The wine I buy most often is about $12.00/bottle but I wouldn't mind paying $13.00 for it. I don't mind doing my part.

[NutmegYankee]

84. I hate taxes on alcohol. Especially wine.

Some people feel it's a sin, which I can't stand since I'm ethnically German. Drinking is part of my family heritage. Wine has good health benefits in moderation, and is not shown to often be a cause of violent or disorderly behavior, as it is often consumed in moderation anyhow. I'd rather encourage wine drinking than do anything that would appear to discourage it. Many states now have healthy wine industries up and running, even here on the east coast - Virginia in particular.

[hendo]

65. $25 is not an expensive bottle of wine

sure, its not a cheap one, but its far from an expensive wine.

[flstci]

66. $25 kinda hits me in my wallet for something I don't need or could

and do buy cheaper.

[unapatriciated]

70. I hate brussel sprouts - let's tax them

[flstci]

76. Now you are just being selfish. You KNOW the majority of

red blooded Americans eat and enjoy brussel sprouts. Yech.

[petronius]

74. Many states already have excise taxes on wine (and other alcohol, including beer)

However, they're relatively low - in CA, it's $0.20 per gallon. The consumer doesn't see it, because it's factored into the cost of the product (like gasoline). I imagine it would be pretty easy to raise the tax rate.

Compared to gasoline taxes, however, there's a big difference in scale: the U.S. consumes about 700 million gallons of wine per year - we consume that amount of gasoline every two days...

[flstci]

77. Sounds like we need more wine

commercials! LOL

[NeedleCast]

83. Wow, DU is just buzzing to raise taxes on something today

[boozepusher]

85. It would kill my business.

Taxes on wine and spirits are already pretty high.

[NashVegas]

87. In My State, That $25 Bottle Would Be a $17 Bottle With a 30% Mark-up For Taxes

True. I'm in Tennessee.

[Fuzz]

91. I just bought a $65 bottle of scotch. Enough of the 'sin' taxes though.

Those are high enough already.

[DainBramaged]

93. They ALWAYS increase the beer and cigarette taxes, but never wine and liquor

Because mostly the poor smoke and drink beer, and have no say except to pay for their small escape from a miserable life.

[curse of greyface]

94. The federal gas tax is .25 cents a gallon Wine is $1.07 a gallon.

So we are already paying a dollar a gallon on wine.

I say we double that tax but only on boxed wine. :silly: