According to Ian Parry, if the alcohol taxes were to increase from 10% to 30% of the pre-tax price the retail price would only increase by 18%. Current (federal and state) taxes amount to about $20 per gallon of alcohol contained in beer, $18 per gallon for wine, and $35 per gallon for spirits. (Measured by the % of alcohol in the beverages.) Tripling those taxes would, for example, add roughly $1.20 to the price of both a six-pack of beer and a bottle of wine. This new tax would bring in approximately 25 billion in revenue which could be spent toward education.
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