Iowa distilleries want permanent whiskey tax cut, after close brush with 400-percent tax hike

A host of small distilleries breathed tentative sighs of relief this week as Congress demonstrated signs of life on a liquor tax cut set to expire at the end of the year.

Squirreled away within a $1.4 trillion spending deal U.S. House lawmakers passed Tuesday is a one-year extension on the incentive — an 80 percent cut on federal excise taxes paid on distilleries’ first 100,000 proof gallons per calendar year.

The U.S. Senate must approve that deal by Friday — when current funding expires — to avert both a government shutdown and a sudden 400 percent increase on the liquor taxes, the first payment on which is due January 15.

Jeff Quint, owner of Cedar Ridge Winery and Distillery in Swisher, said he visited most of the Iowa Congressional delegation’s Washington, D.C., offices in June to discuss the tax cut, and met directly with Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley.

Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/business/iowa-distilleries-whiskey-tax-cut-20191218
(Cedar Rapids Gazette)