(This article comes courtesy of MissouriNet.)
Brewers in the U.S. will soon get a tax break from Missouri, as the so-called “Great American Beer Act” takes effect August 28.
The measure will reduce Missouri’s malt liquor tax from $1.86 a barrel to $0.62 a barrel for beer produced at American breweries. It was sponsored by State Rep. Dane Diehl, R-Butler.
“Being a farmer, my drive to increase domestic use of (agricultural) products, especially in Missouri, with (it) being our #1 industry – this bill really fits that need,” Diehl told Missourinet. “It affects everyone from their local small-town breweries all the way up to our pillars in the brewery industry.”
He also hopes the new law will help to grow Missouri’s beer industry.
“Ultimately lowering that (malt liquor tax), it will probably incentivize beer producers and breweries to continue to invest here in Missouri,” Diehl said. “(As) we look back over rich history – over 200 years before prohibition – we had a numerous amount of breweries across the whole state. We want to get that back.”
Beer produced outside the U.S. will still be taxed at $1.86 cents a barrel. But Diehl stated that overseas beer producers that use breweries in the U.S. are eligible for the tax break.
“In the fine text there, as long as it is brewed here,” he said. “Now we’re gonna be very specific and there’s some parameters and safeguards, but as long as it is brewed here inside the United States, they’re going to get that incentive.”
For example, Irish beer company Guiness also brews its product in Chicago and Baltimore. Diehl suggests that the tax break could help lure more international beer companies to open breweries in the U.S. and specifically in Missouri.
The new law also includes provisions that will allow manufacturers, retailers, and unlicensed individuals to donate wine, beer, and spirits to charitable, religious, and educational groups for auctions or raffles. And it will allow businesses licensed to serve alcoholic beverages to do so from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. during the 2026 FIFA World Cup next summer.
