re: Forcing Breweries to Use a Distributor

quote:

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follow the money

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Right.

I don't know what the laws are for breweries but for distilleries all states have a three tiered system except for Washington state. Washington's state excise tax is $35..22 per 80 proof gallon. Wyoming and New Hampshire do not have state excise taxes on spirits. The federal government gets $13.50 per 80 proof gallon.

The tax markup goes like this:

Distiller pays $13.50 per 80 proof gallon to the federal government.
Distributor pays state excise tax per 80 proof gallon based on each state's excise tax rate.
Retailer pays sales tax per unit.

It's essentially a value added tax.

In the case of Washington state you could be paying over $10 in taxes per 5th of distilled spirit. In the case of New Hampshire and Wyoming you're paying $2.7 + sales tax per 5th of spirit.