What proportion of the price of a typical alcoholic beverage is taxation in Canada and why does it matter?

Abstract

Introduction: Canadian distillers and brewers have claimed that between 50% and 80% of the price of alcoholic drinks are government taxes. These claims were made in campaigns to decrease alcohol taxation. Methods: We investigated these claims using publicly available Statistics Canada data and provincial-level product sales data and breakdowns of the prices of typical alcohol beverages in major market sectors. Results: In all cases, the rate of total sales tax and excise taxation are mostly between 20% and 30% of final retail prices, well below the industry claims.