In just a few short months, 2019 will turn to 2020 and with that comes the expiration of the Craft Beverage Modernization Tax Reform Act, a game-changing tax provision that lowered the federal excise tax for breweries, wineries and distilled spirits producers for two years.

Quite simply this tax law has helped my business, Seventh Son in Columbus, grow and enabled me to make it a better place for my employees to work.

Under CBMTRA, small breweries like mine which produce less than 2 million barrels of beer a year saw the federal excise tax on their first 60,000 barrels lowered from $7.00 per barrel to $3.50 per barrel. For us, that meant a savings of around $35,000. As a result, in the last two years, Seventh Son has increased its taproom and production space by 15,000 square feet, opened a second brewery and doubled our staff from 25 to 52.

We also have made improvements to our employee benefits package and increased our role in the community by boosting our charitable giving across several local organizations including Habitat for Humanity, Kaleidoscope, the Godman Guild, Cat Welfare and many others. The improvements to our physical space and our workforce, along with an increased presence in our community, have all been bolstered by the excise tax reduction.

Small and independent craft brewers across the country have made similar investments with their tax savings, adding new jobs in their own hometowns, purchasing new equipment, renovating their breweries and brewpub spaces, expanding their distribution and increasing their own community contributions.

It’s important to note that we still pay all our taxes, just like any other business. But the federal excise tax on beer is an extra tax that only brewers pay. The tax savings from the CBMTRA is not free money, but additional capital that we have used to re-invest in our businesses, create more jobs and regain a bit of certainty and stability in a competitive market.

At the beginning of the year, CBMTRA was reintroduced in Congress — a great first step because if it is passed, it will make the lower excise rate permanent. The bill already has majority support in both chambers of Congress — in fact, more than 300 senators and representatives across both sides of the aisle currently support the bill — and that number is growing every week. With support from 138 Republicans and 132 Democrats in the House and 34 Democrats and 33 Republicans in the Senate, beer continues to be the most bipartisan issue in Washington, and small breweries continue to be a shining example of American small-scale manufacturing.

Earlier this summer, I was in Washington participating in the Brewers Association’s Hill Climb — an annual opportunity for the association’s members to meet with members of Congress and discuss our top priorities as an industry and to unite as small business owners that exist in every single state and nearly every congressional district across the country. This year our biggest priority was ensuring our representatives in Congress understand the profound impact the tax savings from the lower federal excise tax has had on our industry from the brewers themselves to their supply chain and manufacturing partners.

Unlike other companies that have benefited from tax cuts, small and independent brewers use this savings to invest. The lower tax enables us to make important and necessary investments in our people, our community and in our businesses while confidently continuing to do what we do best: brew the best craft beer in the world — American craft beer.

The bottom line is that Congress needs to act. If not, the lower federal excise tax will expire and along with it the certainty and stability we have seen for the last two years. Our message is simple: Support CBMTRA to make the lower tax permanent and enable independent brewers across Ohio and the country to grow and continue to be an American manufacturing success story.

Collin Castore is co-founder and partner of Seventh Son Brewing in Columbus and President of the Ohio Craft Brewers Association.

