Distilled Spirits Council lauds Tax Reform’s Federal Excise Tax reduction on beverage alcohol
Congratulations to the Distilled Spirits Council, Ralph Erenzo, Bill Owens, Justin Stiefel, Frank Coleman, Kraig Naasz, Nicole Austin, Melkon Khosrovian, Stephen Gould and all the other people who have worked so hard to make tax parity for craft distillers become a reality!
Apr 30, 2016 Post:
Congress recently turned its attention to annual Appropriations Bill in the hopes they could get some substantive movement done before the Parties head to their summer nominating conventions. The bill that the beer, wine and spirits industries was hoping could serve as the vehicle for FET reduction (the FAA Bill), stalled out. But the industry remains focused on this goal. It is the single most important federal action we can achieve.
In the last couple weeks our members heeded the call the action, and you lit up the phone lines in Congressional offices in DC and in your home states urging FET parity and reduction for distillers.
For now, all you can do is keep calling your Congressmen and Senators to urge them to support FET parity and reduction for craft distillers. Reducing your Federal Excise Tax (FET) from $13.50 per proof gallon to $2.70 per proof gallon (the goal of our legislation) would mean craft distillers like you could reinvest in new equipment, hire more people, buy more stills, buy and fill more barrels, grow your operations, increase your marketing budget…in short…reinvesting in your business and your community. Tell your Congressman and Senators what you would do if you could reinvest in your business in their districts with lower FET rates on your spirits.
So for now, keep up the great work by spreading the word about the need for Federal Excise Tax (FET) parity for distillers. And if you need to find out how to contact your Congressmen or Senators (every state has 2 Senators) check out these handy links:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/
http://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/
