The retail price of liquor sold in state and contract liquor stores is determined by five elements.

1. Distiller's, brewer's or vintner's price to the Board
2. Federal taxes - excise tax rates on all liquor, plus custom duty rates on imported liquor
3. Freight costs
4. Markup (see table below), which is controlled by the Board. Markup covers operating costs of the state liquor control system and provides a yearly profit that is shared by the state and local government. The Board's markup is comparable to the wholesale and retail markup applied by private businesses and is also expressed as margin on sales for comparative purposes
5. State sales taxes (see table below), which is set by the state Legislature