LA:  Bars, restaurants concerned about having to pay another alcohol tax

4 WWL

By Wynton Yates, WWL

February 21, 2017

NEW ORLEANS – Local bar owners are wondering how newly proposed revisions to an alcohol tax will affect their businesses.

Over at Mollys at the Market Bar in the French Quarter, owner Tierney Monaghan is busy at work checking her stock. Soon, she could have a new duty added to her list.

“This is not something that we’re used to doing at all, so I’m going to have to figure out how to convert what we sell into (gallons) so that we’d be able to pay the tax to begin with,” said Monaghan.

The tax was passed by the City Council in October 2016. Put forth by Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s office and sponsored by Councilwoman Susan Guidry, it says that the city will begin “collecting an occupational license tax or excise tax on dealers of alcoholic beverages”

This is what that tax looks like: for every gallon of liquor sold, 40 cents would be collected for wines with an alcoholic content between 14 and 24 percent; 10 cents a gallon for beer and wine with less than 14 alcoholic content would be taxed at 5 cents a gallon.

“So when you’re talking about that, you’re talking about an increase in manpower, an increase in pay as far as hours go to be able to figure out so that we can take care of this tax but then we’re also going to have to pass those costs on to our customers which seem unfair,” Monaghan explained.

Earlier in February, Councilwoman Susan Guidry introduced an ordinance in order to clarify that the tax is meant for quote “wholesale dealers” and does not create a new tax. The original ordinance state’s “If for any reason the dealer who first handled the alcohol beverages doesn’t pay the taxes, those taxes will be collected from any dealer found in possession of the beverages.”

Still, owners are not happy about the tax.

“The more taxes that they impose on us it just becomes cost prohibitive for us to do business so in a way I feel like they’re shooting themselves in the foot,” said Monaghan.

A tourism foot that bears much of the city and state’s financial weight. In response to the concerns from local businesses, Councilwoman Guidry’s office said the ordinance will be withdrawn from the council’s agenda this coming Thursday to allow further discussion among interested parties, the administration and the Department of Revenue.