Austrian taxman stops snooping on drinkers after public outcry

Feb 2, 2011, 12:37 GMT

Vienna - Austrian tax authorities will no longer record the details of every citizen who buys more than 20 litres of beer, the finance ministry said Wednesday, reacting to an public outcry over a new regulation.

Retailers and politicians had criticized the policy that targets restaurant owners who secretly buy beverages in supermarkets rather than from distributors and sell them without paying taxes.

From the start of this year, retailers were obliged to take down the names of customers who buy more than two crates of beer, 10 litres of wine or 30 litres of non-alcoholic drinks.

'This turns large family shopping trips into bureaucratic and administrative acts,' consumer advocate and politician Sepp Leitner said in a statement.

The Finance Ministry admitted it had come up with an excessive rule.

'We will repair this,' spokesman Harald Waiglein said, adding that his ministry might go back to the previous threshold of 100 litres of beer and corresponding levels for other drinks.

Austrians are among the heaviest beer drinkers in the world. The annual per capita consumption of more than 100 litres is higher only in the Czech Republic.

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