President Trump’s tax reform will also benefit brewers

On 16 November 2017, the House of Representatives passed its version of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”. No Democrats voted in favour of the Republican bill, which – if passed – would mark the most significant overhaul of the federal tax code since 1986, it was reported.

Because of the difficulties of getting any type of bill through a deeply divided Congress, lots of other issues are included. Obviously, the larger the number of complex policies rolled into one big bill, the easier it is to get legislation passed without anyone noticing.

Media say the updated bill includes what is effectively a major new piece of alcohol legislation, cutting taxes on beer produced in the US – and especially on small breweries.

Taxes on the first 60,000 barrels of beer (70,000 hl) produced domestically by small brewers would be cut in half, from USD 7.00 to USD 3.50. The tax rate on the first six million barrels produced would fall from USD 18 to USD 16 per barrel.

The reforms too cut taxes on certain wines and make other technical changes to federal alcohol rules.

Now it’s up to the Senate to vote on the bill. Republican senators are under intense pressure to get this legislation to Mr Trump’s desk before the end of the year. Lawmakers also want to push the bill through quickly to avoid giving lobbyists and Democrats time to mobilise, a strategy that seems to be validated by the House approval, which came with little drama.