Bipartisan Beer Tax Reform Bill to Provide Tax and Regulatory Relief to US Beer Industry

A national trade association representing brewers, beer importers, and industry suppliers, The Beer Institute, has released the following statement lauding the introduction of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act (S.236/H.R. 747) in both the US Senate by Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) and the US House of Representatives by Representatives Erik Paulsen (R-MN) and Ron Kind (D-WI). The comprehensive bill provides fair and equitable reform of the federal excise tax on beer. If enacted, the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act will provide tax relief to all brewers and beer importers.

“We applaud Senators Wyden and Blunt and Representatives Paulsen and Kind as well as the Senate and House cosponsors from both sides of the aisle for their leadership in supporting America’s brewers and beer importers,” said Jim McGreevy, President and CEO of the Beer Institute. “The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act is commonsense legislation that will keep America’s beer industry dynamic and growing. Today, the beer industry supports more than 1.75 million US jobs and generates nearly $253 billion in economic activity, which is equal to about 1.5 percent of the US GDP.”

Mirroring the beer provisions of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act from the 114th Congress (S. 1562/H.R 2903), which garnered 52 bipartisan cosponsors in the US Senate and 289 Republicans and Democratic cosponsors in the House of Representatives, this legislation:

• Reduces the federal excise tax to $3.50 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels for domestic brewers producing fewer than 2 million barrels annually.
• Reduces the federal excise tax to $16 per barrel on the first 6 million barrels for all other brewers and all beer importers.
• Keeps the excise tax at the current $18 per barrel rate for barrelage over 6 million.
• Expands the list of ingredients that could be automatically included in beer without federal government approval.

Other original cosponsors of the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act in the Senate include Senators Tammy Baldwin (R-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Rob Portman (R-OH), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).

Representatives Mark Amodei (R-NV), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Tom Emmer (R-MN), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Patrick  McHenry (R-NC), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), David Reichert (R-WA), Mike Thompson (R-WA), and Pat Tiberi (R-OH) also joined as original cosponsors in the House of Representatives.

(Source: Beer Institute)