A Eurosceptic populist party has made a hefty cut to alcohol excise taxes in Estonia
that ply the waters between Helsinki and Tallinn resemble floating shopping malls, equipped with fast-food franchises, clothing outlets and supermarkets. For many Finnish passengers the main attraction is the booze. Like other Nordic countries, Finland levies punishing taxes on alcohol: for hard liquor, €48.80 per litre of pure alcohol content, or €19.52 in tax for a litre of vodka. The intent is to suppress the high alcoholism rates that plague the land of endless winter nights.
This pie-eyed pilgrimage shrank after 2016, when a reformist government launched a series of increases in Estonia’s alcohol taxes. By the start of this year Estonia was charging a bit over half the Finnish rate on hard liquor, making it hardly worth the trip. The government hoped to raise revenue, cut down on the less desirable sorts of tourism and improve public health through lower consumption. But Estonia’s neighbour, Latvia, failed to match the rise.
That changed in April, when Ekre, a far-right party, became a junior partner in the government. Since the 1990s Estonia has largely been governed by sober centrists. Ekre are Eurosceptic populists. The party campaigned on blocking immigration and curtailing native-language education for the Russian minority, but it has yet to do much about those issues. Its one big policy change has been a hefty cut in alcohol excise taxes. As of July 1st, the tax on hard liquor fell from €25.
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