WineLaw.ca
Wine Law in the Globe & Mail
- Thursday, 18 September 2008 06:38
- Written by Mark Hicken
Yesterday's Globe and Mail contained an excellent article by Beppi Crosariol on Canada's arcane inter-provincial barriers for shipping wine . This site was referred to in the article and WineLaw's principal, Mark Hicken, was quoted and two photos were included.
The national coverage on this issue is appreciated. Hopefully and since we are in the middle of a federal election campaign, this will bring the issue to the forefront and there will be some action from the relevant governments and liquor boards to fix this problem.
We are currently working on an updated article on shipping law which has now been posted . Of course, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly .
BC Out of Province Wine Shipping Ends
- Wednesday, 10 September 2008 02:28
- Written by Mark Hicken
The LCBO and the Manitoba liquor control board have recently threatened two BC wineries for direct shipping to out of province customers (see Vancouver Sun story ). In addition, they contacted the BC LCLB who is now warning wineries that it is illegal to make such shipments under the Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act. The legal background to these issues is covered in my earlier article on shipping for the industry .
The impetus for all of this is, of course, lost revenue. Direct shipments to wineries in other provinces bypass the relevant liquor boards and their regime of markups/fees/taxes. However, Manitoba and Ontario do not have a monopoly on this type of behaviour. BC's rules with respect to wine coming into this province are exactly the same (see s.65 of the BC Liquor Control and Licensing Act).
With 2010 on the horizon, isn't it time for Canada's liquor boards to reform this system? A prohibition era system of liquor distribution is simply not appropriate for Canada in the 21st century ... particularly, as we try to encourage and expand an increasingly successful wine industry.
Update (Sept 19/08): Please see my updated article on shipping for more information on this issue . A thorough legal analysis will also be posted shortly. Please contact me directly for additional information.
BC Wine Distribution: Part 2 Bars & Restaurants
- Thursday, 31 July 2008 04:47
- Written by Mark Hicken
This is the second of two articles describing the wine distribution system in BC. This article describes the wine distribution system for restaurants and bars. Part 1 describes retail wine distribution.
BC Wine Distribution: Part 1 Retail
- Tuesday, 29 July 2008 08:56
- Written by Mark Hicken
This is the first of two articles describing the wine distribution system in BC. This article describes the structure of the wine distribution system from the retail end. Part 2 describes the wine distribution system for restaurants and bars.
BC's Real Sales Tax on Wine: 90% or More?
- Wednesday, 11 June 2008 07:27
- Written by Mark Hicken
When you buy a bottle of wine in a store or restaurant in BC, your receipt will usually indicate that you paid 10% provincial sales tax and 5% GST on your purchase. Have you really paid 15% tax on your bottle of wine? Absolutely not.
It may surprise you to hear that the real tax rate on imported wine in BC is much, much higher. It varies with the price of the bottle but, for example, if you go into a BC liquor store and buy a bottle of $14 California wine, the real cost of selling that bottle to you is about $6.45 (including LDB operating costs). The remaining $7.55 goes to both levels of goverment with the vast bulk going to the BC government. If you express the part that goes to BC as a percentage of the actual cost of selling the wine, then the "real" BC sales tax rate is about 111%.