You may recall that the tax bill was rushed through last year, and even President Trump condemned the fact that the bill was voted on before members had time to read it.
Turns out, reading it before voting would have been an excellent idea, because the way it’s written many small wineries are facing significant tax increases—even though they were promised cuts in their Federal Excise Tax. They’ve appealed to both Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau and Congress for relief.
John Manfreda, TTB administrator, told us a few weeks ago his hands are tied. He has to enforce the law the way Congress passed it. The solution would be a technical corrections bill that would fix the measure. That’s Congress’s job. It will be interesting to see whether Congress acts.
You can bet Congress will hear about this issue in the coming weeks as both Wine Institute and WineAmerica are conducting fly-ins, where their members come to Washington to personally lobby their Congressmen and senators on important issues.