The Brewers Association has announced the reintroduction of H.R. 494, the Small Brewer Reinvestment and Expanding Workforce Act (Small BREW Act) in the House of Representatives. The bipartisan legislation, which was reintroduced by Representatives Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) and Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), seeks to recalibrate the federal beer excise tax that small brewers pay on every barrel of beer they produce.
Full press release from the BA here.
Not to put a damper on things, but what does this proposed tax cut accomplish? Most small brewers in my market are rapidly expanding, and I have no expectation to see proportional price decreases in response to this tax change. Are they going to change their expansion plans in response to a tax cut, or in response to market demand?
Just my thought,
Bill
It makes it cheaper for a small guy to operate. therefore more people will be able to survive and have a chance to achieve consumer driven expansion into a higher tax rate.
it’s 3 cents a pint now and would go to 1.5 cents a pint……. no one going out of business on the “small” side based on that math
This bill is not about lowering prices, it is about creating an environment that maximizes growth. For retail driven breweries (like us) it is not a big difference. For wholesale driven breweries it can have a large impact on your ability to survive when you first open and have a chance to grow at a faster pace than you would otherwise. I hate to see the tone of the conversation demonize people for wanting to grow their companies and eventually make a profit. With all the risk and endless hours of work I’ve put into my company anything that helps me grow is greatly appreciated. Our company on paper makes a healthy profit but that ALL goes back into growth and being able to hire additional help. Our ownership takes only a living wage salary, less than ANY of our three full time employees by a large factor but we still pay a healthy tax bill to cover those “profits”.
Companies earning a profit pay taxes
Growing companies hire people
Working people pay taxes and don’t need government assistance
Somebody link to the video of the female brewery owner who showed how every $1 of excise tax relief received would result in like $2-3 in EXTRA revenue for the government. I can’t seem to find it, I think the BA shot it.
Edit: Found it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYcjaF-GL8c