Federal small brewer excise tax bills introduced in Congress

Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the UK, France, Poland: all have progressive duties for beer (with variable thresholds and reductions) which benefit the smaller guys. So why has it taken the U.S. a quarter of a century of craft beer growth to think about alleviating the excise burden for craft brewers? Of course, tax regimes in “Old Europe” don’t mean anything to American politicians. That’s why it’s a brave and laudable move by The Brewers Association (BA), which represents America’s craft brewers, to try to convince their legislators in both Houses of Congress that a change to a graduated beer excise rate is really needed.

The BA announced on 30 March 2011 that legislation seeking to enact a graduated beer excise tax rate of USD 3.50 and USD 16.00 for America’s small brewers has been introduced in both chambers of Congress, where it has received support from representatives of both political parties.

The Senate bill, called S 534, would reduce the small brewer tax rate on the first 60,000 barrels by 50 percent (from USD 7.00 to USD 3.50/barrel) and institute a new rate of USD 16.00 per barrel on beer production above 60,000 barrels up to 2 million barrels.

“Small brewers have been growing and creating jobs ever since the craft beer revolution began," said Senator John Kerry (Democrat). “Today there are over 40 small breweries in Massachusetts and 1,700 across the country, and this bill will help ensure that these small businesses keep people on the payroll and create jobs even during tight economic times.”

Charlie Papazian, President of the Brewers Association, said: “The 1,700+ small American breweries account for about five percent of all the beer enjoyed in the United States and 50 percent of brewery jobs.”