The Department of Health has drafted legislation that would impose an additional surcharge on alcohol to help enhance efforts to combat alcoholism, binge drinking and their harmful effects.
According to the preliminary draft of the bill revealed June 17, a health surcharge amounting to 40 percent of the current tax on alcoholic beverages would be added to the price of such drinks.
The draft bill was formulated after the DOH gathered experts and scholars to study the issue.
The DOH’s Bureau of Health Promotion said that according to Ministry of Finance statistics, the government collects roughly NT$25 billion (US$774 million) a year in alcohol taxes.
Based on this figure, annual revenue from the health surcharge would amount to roughly NT$10 billion, with the money being used toward helping alcoholics break the habit, curbing alcohol hazards and assisting victims of alcohol abuse. A portion of the money would also be set aside to deal with any shortfalls in the national health insurance system, the bureau said.
BHP Director-General Chiu Shu-ti noted that drinking alcohol often leads to illnesses and accidents. Each year, national health insurance system expenditures on treating alcohol related diseases amount to between NT$5 billion and NT$10 billion, she added.
According to studies, every 10 percent increase in the price of alcoholic beverages can lead to a 5.2-percent reduction in alcohol consumption in the short term, and an 8.2-percent decline in the long term, with the rate of reduction in consumption among youths, economically disadvantaged citizens and long-term heavy drinkers being especially pronounced as these groups are more sensitive to price hikes.
Legislators Liao Kuo-tung and Chiang Ling-chun have come up with their own version of draft legislation aimed at combating the hazards of alcohol consumption. According to their proposal, taxes would be levied on alcoholic drinks based on their retail price, or only on beverages that have an alcoholic content of 35 percent and above.
Currently, the MOF levies alcohol taxes at different rates for different types of alcoholic beverages. For example, the tax on beer is NT$2.6 per liter, while the rate on kaoliang and wine ranges between NT$2.5 to NT$7 depending on the alcohol content. In other words, the tax on a 600-milliliter bottle of wine with an alcohol content of 20 percent is NT$84, while the proposed health surcharge would be an additional NT$33.6. (SB)