Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle E— - Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes › Chapter CHAPTER 51— - DISTILLED SPIRITS, WINES, AND BEER › Subchapter Subchapter B— - Qualification Requirements for Distilled Spirits Plants › § 5173
No one may start running a distilled spirits plant unless they first give a bond, unless section 5551(d) says otherwise. No distilled spirits (except those withdrawn under sections 5214 or 7510) may be taken from bonded premises without a bond for the withdrawal, unless section 5551(d) applies. The required operations bond can cover one plant, one plant plus an adjacent bonded wine cellar, or two or more plants (and their adjacent wine cellars) if they are in the same area (as the Secretary defines by rule) and run by the same person or a corporation and its controlled subsidiaries. A unit bond may, under rules the Secretary makes, cover both operations and withdrawals for the same group of premises. Any bond must promise the person will follow the law and pay all taxes, penalties, and fines for the activities covered. The Secretary sets the bond amount by rule, including minimums and maximums. The whole bond amount can be used to pay any liability. A bond that covers only withdrawals is extra to the operations bond, and if used, the operations bond no longer pays the tax for those withdrawals. A wine cellar counts as “adjacent” only if the plant is qualified under this subchapter and both are run by the same person (or a corporation and its controlled subsidiaries). A bond that covers an adjacent wine cellar replaces the bond that would otherwise be needed under section 5354, except for required supplemental bonds.
Full Legal Text
Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
26 U.S.C. § 5173
Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73