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This bill — known as the Fair BEER Act — would revise the excise tax on beer that’s brewed or produced, and consumed or sold within the U.S. or imported into the country. It would create four excise tax tiers based on the amount of beer produced or imported, which increase as the amount of beer brewed or imported increases.

The new excise tax ranges would be as follows:

$0 per barrel on amounts of beer less than 7,143 barrels;
$3.50 per barrel on amounts of beer between 7,144 and 60,000 barrels;
$16 per barrel on amounts of beer between 60,001 and 2,000,000 barrels;
$18 per barrel on amounts of beer exceeding 2,000,001 barrels.

If enacted, these changes would take effect for the 2016 tax year.

Under current law, beer production is taxed at a rate of $18 per barrel except for smaller brewers that don't produce more than 2 million barrels, which only pay $7 per barrel for the first 60,000 barrels they produce.

","official_title":"To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform and reset the excise tax on beer, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Fair BEER Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Fair Brewers Excise and Economic Relief Act or the Fair BEER Act \n\nThis bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to revise the excise tax on beer brewed or produced, and removed for consumption or sale, within the United States or imported into the United States. The revised tax ranges from $0 for an amount not exceeding 7,143 barrels to $18 per barrel on an amount exceeding 2 million barrels.","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Consumers of beer; brewers and importers of beer; and the Dept. of the Treasury.","argument_for":"The current tax structure for beer production makes it hard for small craft breweries to compete with large producers. 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Should Taxes on Beer Vary Based on the Amount Brewed?