Utah lawmaker attempts to lower tax on craft beer
A Utah state lawmaker wants to reduce the tax on liquor, wine and heavy beer for small breweries and distilleries.
Sen. Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich, D-Price, is sponsoring a bill that would significantly reduce the markup on alcoholic drinks produced by small companies and sold in liquor stores.
The new tax rate would be based on the number of gallons a brewery or distillery produces.
The price of alcohol sold in the State Liquor Store is 86 percent more than the state pays for it. Dmitrich’s bill would reduce that markup to 47 percent for liquor and wine. It would drop to 30 percent for heavy beer.
“It’s an economic development bill,” Barth said. “It will help in-state business.” However, the bill does not limit where the alcohol must be produced and the discounted markup would be available to brewers nationwide.
The bill would not affect alcohol prices from any brewery for beer at the grocery store.
