Brewers Guild President Pushes for Lower Taxes for Small Breweries

If you’re like me, you love beer. And you love beer made in Indiana the most. When I spoke with folks like Sun King founder Clay Robinson for this BizVoice article earlier this year, it became clear that local breweries were challenged with meeting the skyrocketing local demand for their product. Great news for the brewing industry, but it means obstacles must be removed. Brewers of Indiana Guild President Ted Miller is now in Washington, D.C., working to remove one of those barriers:

The president of the Brewers of Indiana Guild is in Washington, D.C. lobbying for a bill that would reduce excise taxes for Indiana’s growing small brewing industry. Ted Miller says the proposal, which would cut per-barrel taxes in half up to 60,000 barrels, would give beer makers more capital to upgrade facilities and create jobs. The bill is currently in committee, but Miller says he’s hopeful it will pass after the November election.

The proposal would also cut excise taxes from $18 to $16 per barrel between 60,000 and 2 million barrels.

Miller says larger breweries are fighting the bill, saying it would create an uneven playing field.

He says many small brewers in Indiana "can’t make enough beer," and the tax cuts would allow them to install new equipment and hire new employees. In addition, Miller says there would be indirect job creation as breweries hire electricians and plumbers to install the equipment.