It was my privilege to represent ADI at the recent Public Policy Conference hosted by the Distilled Spirits Council and the American Craft Spirits Association in Washington, D.C. Several dozen distillers joined the more than 100 delegates that walked the halls of Capitol Hill, visiting their elected representatives and thanking them for passing the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2017.

Thanks to this bill, distillers are enjoying writing smaller monthly checks to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, but it is slated to expire on December 31, 2019. There is still a lot of work ahead to extend this provision.

ADI urges all members of the distilling community to do three things:

  1. Write your Senators and Congressional representatives to thank them. Your tax bill just got reduced from $13.50 to $2.70 a proof gallon. Invite them to come visit your distilleries when they are on recess this summer. Show them how tax parity helps entrepreneurs and creates jobs in their district.
  2. Save up your stories of the jobs you have created, the tasting room opened, the equipment purchased, the farm providing more raw material, the café next door that is now booming because of distillery tourism. You are in the best position to show the legislators the economic effectsn rippling out to your suppliers and community.
  3. Plan now on attending next year’s fly-in to visit your representatives in their offices in a coordinated effort to show them the real effect of tax parity on entrepreneurs in their districts. Next year’s action could be critical because the tax bill is set to expire at the end of next year.

Do your part to get tax parity extended… or prepare to again write checks to the TTB that are five times their current size. Together, distillers in all 50 states can make small distillery tax relief permanent.

Tell us your story!
ADI would like to collect and publish the stories of how distillers used the tax relief to:

  • Hire more people
  • Purchase new equipment
  • Order more supplies
  • And improve their communities

Please send your story to:
FET@distilling.com
We will publish the best ones in a special FET edition of Distiller in time for the next legislative push.
Surprise us!

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR