Proposed New Jersey beer tax would hurt craft brewers [UPDATED]
By Noah Davis • Jun 19th, 2009 • Category: Beer News
You win some, you lose some. New Jersey lawmakers are considering a proposal that would raise taxes on beer, only this one seems to create serious problems for the craft brewing community, specifically.
According to the plan, the excise tax would triple on beers that have an alcohol content lower than 4.5% ABV and increase even more for brews above that limit. Craft breweries, of course, frequently make beers containing alcohol content well above 4.5%.
“If such a proposal becomes reality, there is no question that many small brewery businesses will suffer, some will close and consumers will face higher prices and diminished choice in the marketplace,” Charlie Papazian, president of the Brewers Association, said.
Just another reason to avoid New Jersey, we guess.
[UPDATE: As you can see from the comment below, we mistakenly thought this tax was specific to the state of New Jersey, when actually it's a nationwide tax. The commentor points out craft beer advocates should write to their Congresspeople, something we've encouraged you to do in the past. Sorry for the confusion. And, for the record, we think New Jersey is a lovely state.]
Noah,
Although I’m a reluctant to defend politicians, as a New Jerseyan, I do have to take exception to this brief about the excise tax and reasons to avoid New Jersey.
Not to seem obnoxious correcting you, but it is the federal excise tax you are referring to. And while Sen. Bob Menendez of NJ is on the US Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus of Montana is the chairman. And so far it is only talk of raising excise taxes. Also, as an FYI, the soft drink industry could be asked to pony up, too. This is all connected to Congress’ plans to overhaul the US healthcare system, so it’s improbable that a single state would be behind it.
The folks at the Brewers Association put out an action alert on this: http://beertown.org/craftbrewing/index.html
But meanwhile, there is another bill that proposes halving the federal excise taxes on beer. You’ll find information about that on the Brewers Association site, too.
Perhaps you’re confusing the federal measure with the New Jersey Legislature’s increase in the tax on liquor and wine. That budget measure excluded beer, and Governor Jon Corzine’s administration, although a bit ham-handedly, stressed beer was excluded from the increase.
And again, not to seem rude, but your space is better spent calling on beer enthusiasts to write their lawmakers and register their objections to a tax hike, not to single out a particular state to blame, which in this case, is completely erroneous.
And lastly,