Dive Brief:
- The Distillery Innovation and Excise Tax Reform Act, proposed in the House earlier this week, aims to lower the excise tax on vodka, rum, gin, and whiskey.
- The current excise tax rate sits at $13.50 per proof gallon on the first 10,000 gallons of production, but if passed, the legislation would reduce that tax to $2.70 per proof gallon for the first 10,000 gallons and $9 per proof gallon following.
- According to the legislator who introduced the bill, Todd Young (R-IN), new distilleries add jobs and contribute to the tax base but are hindered by red tape and by producing some of the most heavily taxed products on the U.S. market.
Dive Insight:
On the other hand, Boston is proposing the opposite move on liquor taxes. To avoid some of potential pushback on this lowering tax bill, the fact it is positioned as a jobs-creator in a time of higher-than-normal unemployment could help the legislator's case. Small distilleries, like craft breweries, are growing in number, and this bill could certainly help them as well as larger distilleries.