Relatively high levels of commodity taxation are levied on beer, wine and spirits in most countries,including Australia. Special taxes are levied in addition to general income, consumption and asset taxes. Initially the rationale for special taxes on alcohol, and on tobacco, included the dual characteristics of ‘‘sin taxes’’ and the low cost of tax collection. Subsequent arguments have included assertions of low deadweight costs of taxation on these products because of the low elasticity of demand and also because of an alleged complementary relationship in consumption between alcohol with untaxed leisure and home-produced goods and services. However, many other products have similar characteristics. Society paternalism to reduce both self harm as well as external costs of excessive consumption of licit and illicit drugs, including alcohol, may be an important part of the rationale for government intervention to reduce alcohol consumption. This idea is not considered further in this study. Rather, the study considers the reasons for high taxes on alcohol as a form of government intervention to correct market failures of excessive consumption from a society efficiency perspective. Potential market failures include external costs associated with road accidents and crime and healthcare expenditures, imperfect information by consumers about longer-term effects and habitual effects of excessive consumption of alcohol, and time inconsistency of individual decisions in purchasing alcoholic beverages.