Past time for last call on regressive beer tax

American beer drinkers knowthat the building blocks of all great-tasting beers include: grains, hops, yeast andwater. But they probably don’t knowthat more than 40 percent of what Americans pay for a beer goes toward a hidden ingredient: taxes.

We can’t find these taxes on a receipt. They are invisible and they are regressive, meaning lower- and middle-income people disproportionately and unfairly feel the pinch.

Thankfully, the bipartisan Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act of 2013, or “BEER” Act, would reduce the federal excise tax on beer drinkers and protect them from future tax hikes.

As it stands today, the federal excise tax on beer is hitting beer drinkers— and the network of brewers, beer importers, rawmaterial suppliers, wholesalers and retailers— at the historic rate, due to an unprecedented revenue grab by Congress that raised the excise tax on luxury goods such as yachts, personal airplanes, high-priced automobiles and…beer.

In recent years, all other “luxury” tax increases have been repealed, but the beer tax has remained at a historic high. There is no reason why beer drinkers, brewers, importers and the dozens of businesses that support them should have to pay more than their fair share of taxes.

That is why the BEER Act serves such an important role, and why all members of Congress should join its co-sponsors, including South Florida Representatives Mario Diaz-Balart and AlceeHastings, in supporting it.

Today’s brewing industry represents an enormous contribution to the nation’s economy. More than two million Americans are atwork because of beer— from farmers to factoryworkers, brewers to bartenders. In fact, for every one job at the brewery or beer importer, there are another 45 jobs in other industries: agriculture, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, warehousing, transportation, concessions and retail, just to name a few.

All told, the economic contribution from making, importing and selling beer in America provides more than $14 billion in economic activity in Florida alone.

The BEER Act is fair, equitable and comprehensive, meaning it will serve every part of the industry, fromthe startup brewer to the thousands ofworkers in good-paying jobs at America’s major breweries, and encourage expansion, reinvestment and further job creation.

The BEER Actwould roll back the federal excise tax from its historic peak of $18 for every 31-gallon barrel to $9 a barrel, benefitting the vast majority of beer drinkers in theUnited States. For brewers producing less than two million barrels annually, the ratewould beslashed to $3.50 on the first 60,000 barrels; and for those brewing less than15,000 barrels, the federal excise taxwould be eliminated entirely.

In1977, with the support of major brewers, Congress cut the federal excise tax on brewers of less than two million barrels annually. Reducing the federal excise taxwas seen as a means of “creating a pathway to the marketplace” for new brewers—and itworked. At the time, there were 49 brewers in business throughout theUnited States. Today, we count more than 2,700. We have before us another opportunity to foster a great American industry, create much-needed domestic jobs, and protect taxpayers from having to pay even more in hidden taxes for what should be the everyday pleasure of an affordable (and cold) beer. That opportunity is theBEER Act, and it deserves your support.

McClain