America’s beer distributors are in Washington this week, advocating for reform that reduces individual and corporate tax rates in similar manners; treats S corporations and pass-through businesses equitably; avoids the repeal of LIFO inventory accounting; leaves in place appropriate capital cost recovery rules to support and stimulate business investment; provides estate tax relief and preserves estate planning tools that help family businesses plan for the future.
“As Main Street American businesses, we support pro-growth tax reform that would simplify the tax code, lower rates and promote investment,” Craig Purser, president, National Beer Wholesalers Association, told the NBWA Legislative Conference. “Distributors want to ensure their businesses can continue to be economic engines for their local communities and can continue supporting 135,000 quality jobs across the country.”
Beer distributors also are asking members of Congress to fund the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB) to ensure it can regulate the alcohol industry and collect federal excise taxes in an effective manner, especially in light of an increasing number of industry participants and products.
“TTB – the alcohol industry’s primary federal regulator – isn’t just doing its job – it’s doing it well,” Purser said. “The TTB protects the public by preventing counterfeit, adulterated or illegally-produced products from reaching consumers. It’s also the third-largest revenue-collecting agency in the government, right behind the IRS and Customs & Border Protection.”
TTB Most Efficient
“In fact, the TTB is the most efficient tax-collection agency, collecting $436 for every one dollar it spends, which is also why we want to make sure the TTB stays where it is right now – part of the Treasury Department,” Purser added, and not be moved to the IRS as some have suggested.
Additional issues of relevance to beer distributors include multi-employer pension plan reform and withdrawal liability relief for small businesses; the Marketplace Fairness Act and policies that would give states the tools they need to level the playing field between brick-and-mortar businesses and online retailers; and tax credits for natural gas vehicles.
NBWA Chairman of the Board Paul Bertucci kicked off the conference saying, “Eighty-three years after my grandfather started our companies, this is not my grandfather’s business … we are facing new industry challenges, and we are living in new and different political times. We are navigating disruptions. Yet with all of the new – and all of the unknown – some things haven’t changed.”
“We still take pride in supporting quality jobs – local jobs – jobs that cannot be outsourced,” Bertucci continued. “We still take pride in building relationships with local retailers, and we still take pride in building brands – brands of all sizes, from brewers in all corners of the country and around the globe.”
Purser said that the independence of America’s beer distribution system is generating a Golden Age of Beer. He pointed to the 5,0000 breweries operating in the U.S., 600,000 retailers serviced by distributors, robust marketplace competition and unprecedented consumer choice.