# Yikes - Aruba sin tax



## mdurette (Feb 10, 2019)

My SIL just returned from a week at Aruba and discovered they implemted a new sin tax which drove up the cost of alcohol dramatically.  

Best to stop at duty free in airport!

Aruba Tourists Hit With A New Sin Tax Of Up To 333%. Will Other Countries Follow?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimdob...333-will-other-countries-follow/#4e14bc8f67b5


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## AJCts411 (Feb 11, 2019)

I get a chuckle from the article when it talks about your health...you the tourist's health, who would not use the government resources or if you do have insurance...how the government will tax you to make you feel better...I'm pretty sure that is based on some alcohol induced foggy glass theory.  Let face it tourism is overwhelming the existing public resources in some of these island nations,  such as transit, roads, police and they need a way to collect more taxes from the tourists...they should just call an orange and orange, doubt anyone would complain.


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## Dave*H (Feb 11, 2019)

IMHO, the headline is very exaggerated: "Aruba Tourists Hit With A New Sin Tax Of Up To 333%." Reading the article, it turns out the tax increase on hard cider is 333%, going from 3% to 9.99%. All other alcohols are less and increase by a lower percentage. For example, hard alcohol goes from 3% to 4.32% (44% increase). Most people probably won't even notice the difference.


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## davidvel (Feb 11, 2019)

Dave*H said:


> IMHO, the headline is very exaggerated: "Aruba Tourists Hit With A New Sin Tax Of Up To 333%." Reading the article, it turns out the tax increase on hard cider is 333%, going from 3% to 9.99%. All other alcohols are less and increase by a lower percentage. For example, hard alcohol goes from 3% to 4.32% (44% increase).* Most people probably won't even notice the difference*.


Or understand the difference. Generation Z should be dubbed the "Knowledge through Social Media/Headline Generation."


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## legalfee (Apr 9, 2019)

St Thomas did almost the same thing except their 'sin tax' included a $25 dollar a day charge for timeshares.


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## bnoble (Apr 9, 2019)

_"Import duties for wine goes from AWG 400 to AWG 433 per hectolitre.  A bottle of wine is normally 750 ml, so your bottle will now cost you 25 cents more. Clearly not a big deal and import duties are very low on wine on Aruba."_

Much ado about nothing.


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