Beer Institute and Brewers Association Urge State Excise Tax Deferral
WASHINGTON – Today, Jim McGreevy, president and CEO of the Beer Institute, and Bob Pease, president and CEO of the Brewers Association, released the following statement after sending a letter urging state legislators to defer the collection of state excise taxes on beer:
“Every year, our nation’s beer industry pays more than $1.5 billion in state and local excise taxes. Postponing these payments will allow our nation’s beer industry to continue to support jobs when they need resources to keep American workers on the job,” said Jim McGreevy, president and CEO of the Beer Institute. “As they look at ways to help businesses, we hope governors and state legislators will align with the federal government’s decision to postpone excise tax collection from brewers temporarily. Our nation’s beer industry participants need to be able to hold onto as much revenue as possible now, so they can continue to support more than 2.1 million jobs in every corner of each state in our nation–employing our neighbors, friends and family.”
“Circumstances are dire for America’s small and independent breweries, with more than 60% unlikely to survive further prolonged disruption to the economy,” said Bob Pease, president and CEO of The Brewers Association. “America’s craft brewers provided more than 161,000 direct jobs in 2019. The Brewers Association urges our country’s governors and state legislators to temporarily postpone excise tax collection so that these small and independent breweries can utilize this additional relief to take small steps towards reopening and restarting local economies.”
Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the U.S. Alcohol Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) earlier this month granted a three-month postponement of federal excise tax payments for U.S. brewers. Specifically, the U.S. Treasury Department has allowed brewers to delay any federal excise tax payments that were due between March 1st and July 1st of 2020, to be paid after the COVID-19 crisis subsides.
Taxes make up more than 40 percent of the cost of a beer. In addition to federal excise taxes, the beer industry pays business taxes and state excise taxes in all states where their beer is produced and sold.
By deferring excise tax payments, state legislators can provide much-needed tax relief and economic stability to the beer industry. This delay would ensure members of the industry would be better able to pay their bills, avoid lay-offs and ultimately stay in business.
To read the full letter sent to state legislators, click here.
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