The Craft Beverage Modernization & Tax Reform act of 2017 (CBMTRA) – S.236 / H.R. 747 – is deceptive and will benefit Big Alcohol at taxpayer expense.
That’s the argument being made by Bruce Lee Livingston, Executive Director / CEO of Alcohol Justice, who calls it a “dishonest federal measure” that “is being portrayed as an incentive for small craft brewers. But the real winners are the largest beer and spirits producers in a race to cut their already ridiculously low tax rates.”
Livingston issued a report saying that, if signed into law, the measure would result in:
- At least $321 million dollars in lost excise tax revenue
- $177 million dollars to the distilled spirits industry
- $50 million to Big Alcohol “craft” brewers producing over 2 million barrels annually.
- Tax giveaways strongly favor huge brewers ($50 million to 37 breweries producing 2‑6 million barrels, versus $76 million to 4,910 brewers producing < 2 million barrels)
- $18 million lost in an “evisceration of tax incentives” meant to promote lower-ABV wine
The report notes that federal alcohol excise taxes have not been raised since 1991, and that this strips away an effective means to control alcohol use through price increases.
Researchers estimate that doubling the federal excise tax would result in a 35% decrease in alcohol-related mortality, an 11% reduction in deaths from automobile crashes, and measurable drops in sexually transmitted infections, violence, and crime