§5051 Imposition and rate of tax

Summary

A tax must be paid on beer made in the United States, removed for sale or drinking in the United States, or brought into the United States. The tax is $16 for each of the first 6,000,000 barrels a brewer brews and removes in a year (or for imported barrels if an importer has been assigned those barrels and elected to receive the reduced rate). All other barrels are taxed $18 each. A barrel is up to 31 gallons and smaller amounts are taxed the same rate proportionally. Small brewers who make no more than 2,000,000 barrels a year pay $3.50 per barrel on the first 60,000 barrels made at qualified U.S. breweries. The Treasury Secretary can make rules to prevent abuse, set tolerances for partial barrels, and create procedures for assigning the reduced rate to importers. When companies are controlled or act together, the 6,000,000 and 2,000,000 caps apply to the whole group and the available lower amounts are split among members under Secretary’s rules. For beer produced abroad and removed after December 31, 2022, the $16 reduced-rate rule in paragraph (1)(A)(i) does not apply; however, an importer who elected to receive assigned barrels can get quarterly refunds equal to any excess tax paid because of that change, plus interest at the normal overpayment rate (refund timing rules use 90 days instead of 45). No tax may be charged on the raw materials used to make beer; the tax is on the beer itself and must be paid as the payment rules require. Beer made in the U.S. is taxed at these rates unless it is made in a qualified brewery or is exempt as beer for personal or family use.