As you may be aware, on March 9, 2024, the federal government announced it will extend the inflation adjustment for excise duties on alcohol at a two per cent annual increase, for two years, as of April 1, 2024. This is instead of the planned 4.7 per cent increase for 2024 announced on February 22, 2024. It is expected that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) will officially publish the updated rates on their website by the end of this week.
Please see below for important information on the steps the BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) is taking to ensure wholesale prices reflect the two per cent increase to the excise duty rate by April 1, 2024.
Fiscal Period 1 (P1) April 2024
The LDB is working as quickly as possible to adjust its systems and processes so that wholesale prices reflect the two per cent increase to the excise rate by
April 1, 2024. In order to make the necessary adjustments in time for
April 1, 2024, the LDB is unable to accept any price change revision requests for
Period 1. As a result of the adjusted price change, the wholesale pricing publish date and the wholesale and hospitality price lists for Period 1 will be available no later than March 18, 2024.
Fiscal Period 2 (P2) May 2024
To provide vendors and suppliers the opportunity to make Period 2 wholesale price changes as a result of the adjusted two per cent increase to the excise duty rate, the LDB will be extending the price change deadline (originally set for Friday, March 15) for Period 2. Any wholesale price changes made for Period 2 will continue to come into effect on April 28, 2024, as per the LDB Financial Calendar.
We will update the LDB’s wholesale pricing calculators and provide more details on the Period 2 price change deadline and wholesale pricing publish date once the CRA officially publishes the updated rates on their website.
In the meantime, more information on the proposed excise duty rates can be found in the announcement and backgrounder from the Department of Finance Canada at:
Backgrounder: Supporting Canadian businesses with alcohol excise duty relief - Canada.ca