It’s essentially a trade issue, but anything which robs winemakers of their anticipated income will ultimately affect the drinker. 600 Australian wineries have been denied their expected receipt of $6,000 each as part of the Federal Government’s commitment to offset the various increases in wholesale sales taxes from 20% in 1993 to 26% in 1995. The wine industry accepted the tax increases on the basis that such payments, totalling $3.6 million this year, were to be paid as a form of compensation. Small winemakers, many of whom will have already spent their anticipated allocation on plant and equipment, are again the hardest hit. They also remain the most vulnerable to the government’s reluctance to reconsider the 26% sales tax on samples issued at the cellar door and at public tastings. Just when the industry thought that Wine Australia 96 had showed our political leaders how important wine can be to the Australian economy…
