An international survey has found that Irish people are paying higher sales tax on routine purchases like chocolate, wine and petrol, than many other countries.

The study of VAT and excise duties - which was carried out by Irish accountancy firm Farrelly Dawe White - covered 22 countries including Ireland, the US, Britain, Canada and the so called developing economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.

It found that the Irish government takes 60% of every €1 motorists here spend on petrol, but the worldwide average is 36%. There are 6 countries in the study where over 50% of the price of a litre of petrol is made up of taxes:

• Ireland (60.5%)
• France (59.1%)
• Germany (58.5%)
• Italy (57.8%)
•  UK (58%)
• Netherlands (50.2%)

The study also found that over a third of the price of a bottle of wine in Ireland goes to the government in taxes, compared to 23% internationally.

"Threatens to undermine recovery"

Alan Farrelly is partner at Farrelly Dawe White.

"“Ireland’s high taxes for consumer products do not compare well with other economies. After India and Brazil, the Irish consumer is landed with some of the highest tax burden which threatens to undermine our recovery in consumer spending due the pressures imposed on disposable incomes" he said.

However the report shows that Ireland is not alone in increasing sales taxes.

It found that the UK, the Netherlands, and France have all increased their sales taxes recently. Britain raised VAT from 15% to 20% with two changes in the space of 2 years, while France plans further rises in 2013.