State of Qatar Alcohol "Sin" Tax
Jan 1, 2019, 6:52 am
#1
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State of Qatar Alcohol "Sin" Tax
An interesting development, which may affect QR - Sin Tax
Alcohol prices have doubled overnight due to a 100% tax.
M
Alcohol prices have doubled overnight due to a 100% tax.
M
Jan 1, 2019, 10:53 am
#4
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my understanding is the tax does not affect airside duty free.
That being said, a 24 case of beer at the QDC will now set a person back over $100usd. This will be interesting because the QDC is owned by Qatar Airways and has been an incredible cash cow. Imagine that an airline has the monopoly on ALL alcohol and pork products! Anyways, people will be cutting way back on their beverage purchases until some semblance of sanity returns to the powers that be. This of course will also play heavily on the hotel food services business as people start holding back from trips to the bar.
That being said, a 24 case of beer at the QDC will now set a person back over $100usd. This will be interesting because the QDC is owned by Qatar Airways and has been an incredible cash cow. Imagine that an airline has the monopoly on ALL alcohol and pork products! Anyways, people will be cutting way back on their beverage purchases until some semblance of sanity returns to the powers that be. This of course will also play heavily on the hotel food services business as people start holding back from trips to the bar.
Jan 1, 2019, 11:09 am
#5
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Perhaps they'll start issuing PDF beer chits in the Qatar+ programme to save the catering/entertainment/bar industry as well as the hotel industry!
Jan 1, 2019, 2:44 pm
#6
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A case of 24 bottles of corona was $150 Canadian equivalents New Year’s Eve
its now the new expensive champagne......
its now the new expensive champagne......
Jan 1, 2019, 3:42 pm
#7
Join Date: Sep 2015
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I've just ordered a pint at the Oryx Rotana. It has gone up 11 riyals due to this apparently, so actually about a 20% increase on retail price (in hotels anyway). Could be worse I suppose... Drinking in the Gulf has never been a cheap hobby anyway.
Last edited by Johnnieboy; Jan 1, 2019 at 4:06 pm
Jan 1, 2019, 5:55 pm
#9
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Jan 1, 2019, 6:06 pm
#10
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My understanding is that in some of the Gulf states, for a local resident to get a alcohol permit, among other requirements their income must be above some threshold and then they may purchase a limited amount of alcohol officially, with the limit set in terms of the total price. Does this price increase have an impact on locals getting/using alcohol permits?
Jan 1, 2019, 9:42 pm
#11
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My understanding is that in some of the Gulf states, for a local resident to get a alcohol permit, among other requirements their income must be above some threshold and then they may purchase a limited amount of alcohol officially, with the limit set in terms of the total price. Does this price increase have an impact on locals getting/using alcohol permits?
Last edited by msm2000uk; Jan 2, 2019 at 2:05 am
Jan 1, 2019, 10:31 pm
#12
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And you can not bring a guest into the store to “ browse” , maybe a Qatar can but as an expat just the card carrier.
Jan 1, 2019, 11:08 pm
#13
Join Date: Mar 2016
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They reduced the minimum salary to 3000 QR a few months back. Maybe in preparation for the impending tax. I do not know how the monthly allowances are affected and if the tax counts towards that all not meaning that you can only technically buy half the amount you used to. If this was the case then they would most likely increase the allowance anyway.
Jan 1, 2019, 11:11 pm
#14
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Doha, Qatar
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As the hotels get all their drink from QDC they too are subject to the tax but I was worried that they would also be taxed on every drink they sell. The hotels cannot afford to double their prices and the competition will be now huge. When this all dies down those hotels who added the smallest price increases will end up being the busier!
Jan 1, 2019, 11:31 pm
#15
Join Date: Sep 2015
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Digging around a bit this morning, it appears to have been applied to tobacco, energy drinks and pork as well, with sugary products hit 50%
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/w...x-alcohol.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/01/w...x-alcohol.html
Last edited by msm2000uk; Jan 2, 2019 at 2:06 am Reason: Fix Hyperlink