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Taxing alcohol is not straight forward because everybody can make it at home with everyday items. Raise taxes too much and people will start their own basement
by foepys 6y ago
Taxing alcohol is not straight forward because everybody can make it at home with everyday items. Raise taxes too much and people will start their own basement distilleries which will then send methanol poisoning cases through the roof.
Brewing beer for example is extremely easy. Everybody can do it and there is even a whole community around brewing at home.
- istjohn 6y agoAs the article notes, at least in the UK, taxes in the 50's were three times as high. As someone who has distilled alcohol in a garage before, it's incredibly labor intensive at small scales. Brewing beer is doable, but it is not "extremely easy" by any measure, especially if the goal is reasonably decent tasting beer. Alcohol taxes would need to be extremely high before black market alcohol became an issue of any significance.
- lanstin 6y agoCider is easy and quite good. Nothing as tasty as stuff you made anyways.