Massive Federal Beer Tax?
If I'm reading this right, we may have very serious trouble ahead. USA Today is reporting that Congress is looking to raise taxes on alcohol, including what looks like a massive hike on beer:
I'm not always the sharpest tool in the box when it comes to numbers, but my back-of-the-envelope calculation puts this at $26.45 per barrel. That's a very scary number.Details of the proposed beer tax are described in a Senate Finance Committee document that will be used to brief lawmakers Wednesday at a closed-door meeting.
Taxes on wine and hard liquor would also go up. And there might be a new tax on soda and other sugary drinks blamed for contributing to obesity. No taxes on diet drinks, however.Beer taxes would go up by 48 cents a six-pack, wine taxes would rise by 49 cents per bottle, and the tax on hard liquor would increase by 40 cents per fifth. Proceeds from the new taxes would help cover an estimated 50 million uninsured Americans.