Wednesday, November 1, 2017

52 United States Senators Support Alcohol Excise Tax Reform

      The Senate support for the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2017 (S.236) has reached a majority. This week Senator James Inhofe (R-OH) and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) became the 51st and 52nd Senators to sign on as a co-sponsor with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) who introduced this bipartisan bill in January.

     The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act was originally introduced in 2015. This bill seeks to lower the tax burden for all wineries, breweries and distilleries in the United States.  It is the first bill proposed that would reform the federal excise tax system for all three major alcohol commodities. The bill now has a clear majority of support in both the Senate and the House.  A complete list of sponsors for the House version of Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2017 can be found here. Details about the Senate version can be found here.

For more information about the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act, please contact Michael Kaiser, Vice President, mkaiser@wineamerica.org.