The squeezing of profit margins has been attributed to not just the impact of alcohol taxes but also cost-of-living pressures and ballooning insurance premiums.

Yackandandah Hotel licensee Peter Cook said he certainly was not making any money.

"People don't have huge disposable incomes anymore, and that's having an even greater effect on hotels at the moment," he said.

"We are trying to provide consistency in our business."

But the combination of costs was making it "very difficult for us to compete in the market".

Mr Cook said he was doubtful any changes, such as government legislation or annual budget decisions, would come into place to alleviate the pressures associated with buying alcohol.

"Not only are we struggling but we are also competing with other businesses; anyone can get a liquor licence now and it's impacting us a lot," he said.

"You could say that basically we've reached a ceiling in our price structure, that the price is now pushing through that ceiling.

"And on both sides, it means that we're not able to generate enough revenue from that stream of income."

Mr Cook said rising prices meant ordinary people were "finding it harder" to be able to afford coming down to the pub "and have a couple of beers".

Australia's tax on alcohol is the third-highest in the world and is indexed twice a year based on rising household inflation, measured with the consumer price index (CPI).

He put in about 70 to 80 hours a week into the business, or the equivalent of wages for two people - but "it's not viable to hire staff".

"The alternative is, at this stage, is to say, well, you know what? Perhaps we shouldn't be open on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday," he said.

"And that has a huge impact on tourism to the town. If people come to the town and they can't get a meal or a drink, then they simply move to the next place.

"Sometimes our month-to-month look at the business seems grimmer than others, and it's really difficult to keep continuing on like this."

Pubs were a place of social gathering but "things have fallen off, which is the worst thing for the community".

Mr Cook said this clearly affected tourism in Yackandandah.

"Twenty to 40 per cent of my trade is local, the rest are from out of town and we can only offer limited services," he said.

"But with the costs and without gaming it's not really sustainable to tell you the truth.

"It's just another example of the cost in a lot of circumstances being beyond most people.

"The economy isn't going to automatically recover in the next few months, so things are probably likely to get worse before they get better."

General manager of the Holbrook and Woomargama Hotel Nick Jobson said the impact of alcohol taxes meant beer prices just continued to rise.

"There's nothing that anyone can do about that, it's just all government-based," he said.

"We don't charge the city pricing so people can still enjoy a beer - it's got to be fair for everyone so we still wear some expense."

Mr Jobson, who has owned the business for two years, said there were still a lot of people coming through the doors wanting to be social but it wasn't easy.

"We don't want to close, but if prices keep hiking then what do we do?"

The Dartmouth Pub's Glenn Jukawics said his business was having to cope with the impact of an approximate 2.5 per cent increase in alcohol tax.

"That's really hard to put on top because basically people haven't got a disposable income anymore - everyone's paying more for basics, food items, petrol, power," he said.

"And there is no disposable income left. We see it and we have to broaden our horizons and target other revenue streams."

Mr Jukawics said the pub had to rely on family functions, plus family visitors to Dartmouth.

"People who do come to the pub won't buy," he said.

"They'll have one round of drinks, unless it's a special occasion or once a week.

"We do get the locals come up and they have a good night, but most of them don't eat meals. I'm seeing people only come in for a counter meal once every two, three or four weeks."

Mr Jukawics said owning a country pub was "a break-even thing" with many "going under".

"I'm doing the cleaning, then doing the bar shifts and then doing evening shifts - it's 16-hour days," he said.

Mr Jukawics said food costs, especially with cooking oil becoming so expensive, meant running a pub kitchen was a difficult exercise, prompting him to "go back to basics".

"Most pubs have a deep fried-orientated menu because it's quick and easy and requires less staff," he said.

"But we found that we're having to go back to basics and use a lot of whole foods such as pastas, because we just can't afford the meat and people can't afford the meat.

"That's the problem."

But Mr Jukawics said his biggest concern since taking over in August last year was being able to get insurance.

"When the company changed hands with the property, basically the insurance went from $20,000 plus a little bit for liabilities up to $70,000 plus liabilities," he said.

"I just can't afford to get it (though) we've got liability insurance for the public, which is more than adequate for what we need.

"With a bit of tenacity, we'll be able to increase the amount of functions that we are providing to clients and the general public

"But if we just can't sit there and sit on our hands here, we have to push that."