What difference did the failure of Congress to continue to fund government operations make for the bev/al industry?
At Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau, audits were halted, as were all other non-criminal investigative activities, examination of returns and return processing that didn’t include remittances. Also halted:
- Processing of permits, certificates of label approval and drawback claims from manufacturers of non-beverage products.
- Laboratory services
- Most information system functions
- Planning, training and professional development activities.
The shutdown affected 427 of TTB’s 478 employees as well as another 149 contractors.
Tax remittance processing continued, as does the operations of the Puerto Rico Field Office, which is funded solely from a mandatory account. Trade practice enforcement continued because it is funded from a two-year appropriation that remains available under Sept. 30.
In one respect, the shutdown had minimal impact on the bev/al business. While government employees didn’t process permits, COLAs, etc., you were still able to access TTB’s eGovernment operations, including Permits Online, Formulas Online and COLAs Online. But processing of those will be delayed by at least one day – probably two — thanks to the Congressional shutdown.