To all Beer Enthusiasts, Homebrewers, Breweries & Beer-Allied Companies,
Today, a National Call to Action was issued by the Brewers Association regarding bill H.R. 4278 (link opens PDF).
This bill would reduce taxes for all small breweries. Here’s a quick quote from the Call to Action explaining the issue at hand:
For small brewers brewing less than 6 million barrels annually, this legislation would cut the small brewer tax rate in half, to $3.50/barrel on the first 60,000 barrels, and reduce the upper tax rate from $18/barrel to $16/barrel on beer production above 60,000 barrels up to 2 million barrels.
Of the 1,525 breweries in America, 962 are brewpubs and 470 are the smallest bottling breweries, which produce volumes of 15,000 barrels of beer a year or less and sell their beers in local markets. Once barrel equals about 13.8 cases of beer.
The original small brewer tax rate of $7/barrel was established in 1976 and has never been updated. Since then, the annual U.S. production of America’s largest brewery increased from about 45 million to 107 million barrels and over 200 million barrels globally (or 1,240,000,000 five-gallon batches of homebrew!). Much has changed and the challenges small brewers face as small American businesses have grown dramatically since 1976.
A tax reduction for small brewers will help these small businesses grow and provide greater access to the beers you enjoy. In addition, the bill would generate more than 2,700 new jobs over the first year to 18 months, followed by an average of 375 new jobs per year over the following four years.
Please, take the time to visit the Brewers Association’s resource page, write your U.S. Representative and ask them to become a co-sponsor of the bill.
