Consumers can join fight to lower beer taxes

The Brewers Association has called on beer drinkers across the country to join the effort to lower the beer excise tax for America’s small brewers.

For small brewers making less than 6 million barrels annually, H.R. 4278 would cut the small brewer tax rate in half, to $3.50 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels brewed annually. It would reduce the tax rate from $18 per barrel to $16 per barrel on production between 60,000 barrels and 2 million barrels.

Almost all of the 1,500-plus breweries in the United States — most of them in fact brewpubs — make fewer than 60,000 barrels annually. Only a little more than two dozen brew more, including Boston Beer (Samuel Adams beers) and Sierra Nevada at the high end and breweries such as Abita Brewing and Great Lakes Brewing at the lower end.

The Brewers Association points out:

– A tax reduction will help grow small business breweries and provide drinkers will greater access to a wider variety of beers.

– Harvard University’s John Friedman’s study, Economic Impact of Small Brewers Excise Tax Reduction shows that H.R. 4278 would also help stimulate job creation quickly and at a low cost. 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.

The Brewers Association has assembled a resource page at its website that industry members and beer drinkers can use to join the lobbying effort to reduce the tax.