TAXES ON ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Mdm Claire Chiang See Ngoh asked the Minister for Finance (a) what was the annual revenue collection of excise duties and customs on alcoholic beverages from 1990 to 1999 and (b) whether he will consider increasing taxes to discourage their import and consumption in view of the rising trends in alcohol consumption among Singaporeans.

Dr Richard Hu Tsu Tau: The Government has always used taxes on liquor products as a tool to discourage excessive alcohol consumption.

Our annual customs duty collection on liquor products from 1990 to 1999 are at the Table below. Liquor duties were last revised in 1992. Between 1992 and 1998, duty collection on liquor products had increased an average of 3.11% annually. This had declined slightly in 1998 due to the economic downturn. Table TOTAL DUTY-PAID RELEASES OF LIQUORS (IN DECALITRE) AND REVENUE COLLECTED ON LIQUORS Annual Financial Quantity Revenue Percentage Year Released (DAL) Collected (S$) Change In Revenue FY90 6,767,245 237,422,234 FY91 6,806,567 246,334,350 3.75 FY92 7,184,639 281,669,012 14.34 FY93 7,112,705 284,750,784 1.09 Annual Financial Quantity Revenue Percentage Year Released (DAL) Collected (S$) Change In Revenue FY94 7,498,463 301,848,136 6.00 FY95 7,878,599 318,669,581 5.57 FY96 8,141,913 330,080,320 3.58 FY97 8,618,638 351,305,374 6.43 FY98 8,424,498 337,087,196 (4.05) FY99 8,328,338 344,830,895 2.30 (Projected figures)

Increases in duty collection over the years have been small. The findings from a 1998 National Health Survey conducted by the Ministry of Health also show that the overall prevalence of regular1 and binge2 drinking has remained stable from 1992 to 1998.

1 Consumption of alcohol at least 4 times a week.

2 Consumption of 5 or more alcohol drinks on a single occasion at least once during the past month. Alcoholic drink refers to one can or bottle of beer (280ml) or 120ml of wine or 30ml of spirit.

Nevertheless, the Government constantly monitors the trend in national alcohol consumption and would periodically revise our duty rates as necessary.