Czechia is currently the second largest per-capita alcohol consumer in the EU, and experts from the National Economic Council (NERV) are proposing to scrap the exemption from the consumption or excise tax for still wine. This would mainly impact the cheapest boxed wine variants, which are sought out by alcoholics. Winemakers are strongly opposed to the move, arguing that it would lead to additional expenditures and administration costs, and push many into the informal economy. Agriculture Minister Zdeněk Nekula has also voiced his opposition, highlighting that the wine industry directly employs around 30,000 workers in South Moravia and parts of Bohemia, and that hundreds of villages and cities could suffer economic and cultural damage.
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