Beer Excise Taxes and the Craft Beverage and Modernization Tax Reform Act

In December of 2017, the Craft Beverage and Modernization Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) initially lowered Federal beer excise taxes for a period of two years. At the end of 2019, Congress extended the legislation through December 31, 2020. The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Act of 2020 made the reduction permanent. The intent of the CBMTRA was to encourage investment in the craft (micro) brewing industry. We evaluate the ramifications of the CBMTRA on producers, consumers, and tax receipts, as well as quantify potential differential effects between the micro, regional, and macro brewing sectors. We also quantify the impact of excise tax reductions on input suppliers including barley, labor, non-labor, and equity capital providers. Although the per barrel excise tax reduction was supposed to primarily support the micro brewing sector, we find that the CBMTRA actually provided a larger benefit to the regional and macro brewing sectors.