The Beer Institute recently proposed a change to the federal bills H.R. 1236 and S. 534 being pushed by the Brewers Association. The BI offered Big Brewery support if the two bills were amended to keep the small brewer definition at 2 million barrels in exchange for elimination of excise tax for brewers under 16,000 bbls annual production and reduction to $3.50/bbl for brewers up to 100K bbls.
The BA Board of Directors released a statement today saying that the association “considers H.R. 1236/S. 534 as the best framework for excise tax relief and job creation for America’s small brewers. Dozens of BA members have invested their individual time and effort to help build a strong bipartisan base of support for this legislation in Congress. It should also be recognized that the existing bills send a strong anti-excise tax signal to those who may want to increase excise taxes on small brewers. The Brewers Association supports the Congressional sponsors of this legislation and looks forward to working with them to promote job growth across the nation.”
The BI (which primarily represents large global brewers and importers)will now most likely oppose the two bills.