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Dear Beer
Enthusiasts, Homebrewers, Breweries & Beer-Allied Companies,
We
are asking you to support America's small brewers by making a very simple
request of your U.S. Representative to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 4278.
Federal
legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 4278 (link
opens a PDF), seeks to enact a reduction in beer excise tax for America's
small brewers.
For small
brewers brewing less than 6 million barrels annually, this legislation
would cut the small brewer tax rate in half, to $3.50/barrel on the first
60,000 barrels, and reduce the upper tax rate from $18/barrel to $16/barrel
on beer production above 60,000 barrels up to 2 million barrels.
Of the
1,525 breweries in America, 962 are brewpubs and 470 are the smallest
bottling breweries, which produce volumes of 15,000 barrels of beer a year
or less and sell their beers in local markets. Once barrel equals about
13.8 cases of beer.
The
original small brewer tax rate of $7/barrel was established in 1976 and has
never been updated. Since then, the annual U.S. production of America's
largest brewery increased from about 45 million to 107 million barrels and
over 200 million barrels globally (or 1,240,000,000 five-gallon batches of
homebrew!). Much has changed and the challenges small brewers face as small
American businesses have grown dramatically since 1976.
Why
is this a good idea?
1.
A tax reduction will help grow small business
breweries and provide greater access to the beers you enjoy.
2.
Harvard University's John Friedman's study, Economic Impact of Small
Brewers Excise Tax Reduction (H.R. 4278), (link opens a PDF),
reveals that H.R. 4278 would also help stimulate job creation quickly and
at a low cost:
o The bill would
generate more than 2,700 new jobs over the first year to 18 months,
followed by an average of 375 new jobs per year over the following four
years.
Please
contact your U.S. Representative and ask that he/she sign on as a
co-sponsor of H.R. 4278.
We have
developed a resource page to
give you the information and tools you need to make the case to your
Representative for supporting this tax relief measure—and by extension, for
supporting the small brewery businesses that are such a vital part of our
local communities.
On the
resource page, you will find a link to a list of current sponsors of H.R.
4278. If your Representative DOES NOT appear on this list, please take a
moment and email your Member of Congress to ask them to cosponsor H.R.
4278.
If your
Representative is already a cosponsor, please email him/her a brief thank
you for their support of small brewers and you, the craft beer drinker and
enthusiast.
Thanks
for helping us advance the interests of all small brewers by contacting
your Representative on this issue. Your active support is absolutely
essential to our success.
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