Photo courtesy www.instagram.com/flatrockcellars
Flat Rock Cellars
Flat Rock Cellars in the Niagara Peninsula.
The Ontario wine industry is calling for major changes to taxation of their products, saying they are the most heavily taxed industry in Canada.
“The wine industry here in Ontario is at a crossroads,” said Ed Madronich, president at Flat Rock Cellars in the Niagara Peninsula. “We pay an import tax here in Ontario of about 35 per cent on our wines to sell them here. In addition to that there’s a 6.1 per cent additional tax that’s put on. Nowhere else in the world has to do that.”
Ontario Craft Wineries has started a petition at change.org asking people to support their call for changes to the province’s taxation system. The group is asking for the 6.1 per cent tax to be scrapped, and for the province to look at a reduction to the 35 per cent ‘import’ tax.
Other provinces do not charge taxes or fees on wines sold at the farmgate, and for BC wineries, wine sold either online or at the winery are by far their highest margin products. The BC Wine Institute has also said BC’s policy of encouraging farmgate sales increases employment, as estate wineries hire people for tasting bars, sales, and marketing.
As well, Madronich says the heavy import taxes put Ontario wineries in a bind as they try to compete against often lower priced imports from large manufacturers.
“ The Ontario industry doesn’t want a handout,” he said. “We just want a level playing field to compete with international wineries. There are 11,000 jobs that are on the line, and an amazing culture and an amazing experience that we’ve been able to build over the years.”
Allan Schmidt, president of Vineland Estates Winery, says the drive for change is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has hit many wineries hard due to reductions in local and international tourism.
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