Cup coffee tax better than plain VAT increase
THE VAT increase in the budget came home to roost over the festive period with the change coming into effect on January 1st.
Almost straight away, consumers saw the change in their pocket with the price of the daily stable of a cup of coffee increasing by an average of 10 to 15 cents.
We are also likely to see further price increases the next time we visit the barber or hairdresser, or go out for something to eat at a restaurant or takeaway.
The change to the VAT rate was supposed to be only a temporary measure during the downturn to support the hotel and tourism industry, yet it it continued for a number of years and certainly it did no harm to the hotel trade with that sector booming, particularly in Dublin and tourist hotspots around the country.
It is not so clear if the VAT reduction did anything for the coffee sector, but we have seen an explosion of coffee shops in every town and village around the country since the days of the banking crisis struck in 2008.
Many cannot go without their fix of caffeine every single day and it can work out as quite an expensive habit, with the average cup of coffee costing over €2 and more closely to €3 if you take a latte, flat white or cappuccino.
Coupled with the explosion of our coffee culture, we have seen the knock-on effect of paper cups with millions going to landfill each and every day. that is hundreds of millions, if not billions of one use paper cups being disposed every year.
There is a growing acceptance that we must tackle this problem and not continue as we are.
So could the government not have addressed the VAT issue and the coffee cup problem in one, with a tax, similar to the plastic bag tax on disposable coffee cups.
Since the new year Government Departments are now being banned from purchasing new stocks of single use plastics, such as plastic cutlery, straws as well as paper cups.
So someone, somewhere in Government has accepted that there is a growing problem that has to be tackled and while they should be commended for taking some action it does not go far enough.
A coffee cup tax would not be popular, make no mistake about it, but caffeine lovers don’t much like the 10-15 cent VAT increase on their morning cup of Jo, either.
They are already discommoded so why not go the whole way and start to influence change, because make no mistake, if there was a coffee cup tax in place, consumers would more readily change to reuseable cups such as the in vogue bamboo cups which are becoming a trendy choice.
A COFFEE CUP TAX WOULD NOT BE POPULAR, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT