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Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73

§5223 Redistillation of spirits, articles, and residues

Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle E— - Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes › Chapter CHAPTER 51— - DISTILLED SPIRITS, WINES, AND BEER › Subchapter Subchapter C— - Operation of Distilled Spirits Plants › Part PART II— - OPERATIONS ON BONDED PREMISES › Subpart Subpart B— - Production › § 5223

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Allows the operator of an authorized distillery to redistill spirits that are still on the licensed, bonded plant site, if they follow rules set by the Secretary. Spirits that were taken out legally without tax or before tax was paid can be sent back for redistillation under those same rules. Products that contain denatured (made undrinkable) spirits, and the leftover residues from making those products, can be brought to the bonded plant and the spirits recovered by redistillation under the Secretary’s rules. Any spirits recovered this way can only leave the bonded site for industrial use or after being denatured as the law requires. Once spirits are redistilled and gauged, they are treated like newly made spirits and earlier tax, lien, or bond duties on them end. Rules about labeling, marking, or identifying these redistilled spirits still apply and the Secretary can control those details.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §5223

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The proprietor of a distilled spirits plant authorized to produce distilled spirits may, under such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe, redistill any distilled spirits which have not been withdrawn from bonded premises.
(b)Distilled spirits which have been lawfully removed from bonded premises free of tax or without payment of tax may, under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, be returned for redistillation to the bonded premises of a distilled spirits plant authorized to produce distilled spirits.
(c)Articles, containing denatured distilled spirits, which were manufactured under the provisions of subchapter D or on the bonded premises of a distilled spirits plant, and the spirits residues of manufacturing processes related thereto, may be received, and the distilled spirits therein recovered by redistillation, on the bonded premises of a distilled spirits plant authorized to produce distilled spirits, under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.
(d)Distilled spirits recovered by the redistillation of denatured distilled spirits, or by the redistillation of the articles or residues described in subsection (c), may not be withdrawn from bonded premises except for industrial use or after denaturation thereof in the manner prescribed by law.
(e)All distilled spirits redistilled on bonded premises subsequent to production gauge shall be treated the same as if such spirits had been originally produced by the redistiller and all provisions of this chapter applicable to the original production of distilled spirits shall be applicable thereto. Any prior obligation as to taxes, liens, and bonds with respect to such distilled spirits shall be extinguished on redistillation. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed as affecting any provision of law relating to the labeling of distilled spirits or as limiting the authority of the Secretary to regulate the marking, branding, or identification of distilled spirits redistilled under this section.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

Provisions similar to those comprising subsecs. (a) and (d) of this section were contained in prior sections of act Aug. 16, 1954, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 85–859, as follows: Present subsecs.:Prior sections (a)5194(f), 5217(a), 5305, 5308. (d)5194(f). The prior sections, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, are set out in 68A Stat. 635, 641, 657.

Amendments

1979—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 96–39, § 807(a)(31)(A), inserted “or on the bonded premises of a distilled spirits plant” after “subchapter D,”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 96–39, § 807(a)(31)(B), struck out provisions relating to the treatment of the processing of distilled spirits, subsequent to production gauge, in the manufacture of vodka in the production facilities of a distilled spirits plant as a redistillation of the spirits for purposes of this subsection, subsection (a), and section 5025(d) and 5215. 1976—Subsecs. (a) to (c), (e). Pub. L. 94–455 struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary” wherever appearing. 1965—Pub. L. 89–44, § 805(f)(8), substituted “spirits, articles, and residues” for “spirits” in section catchline. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 89–44, § 805(d), added subsec. (c). Former subsec. (c) redesignated (d). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 89–44, § 805(d), (f)(10), redesignated subsec. (c) as (d), inserted “, articles, and residues” after “distilled spirits” in heading, and inserted “, or by the redistillation of the articles or residues described in subsection (c),” after “denatured distilled spirits” in text. Former subsec. (d) redesignated (e). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 89–11, § 805(d), redesignated former subsec. (d) as (e).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1979 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–39 effective Jan. 1, 1980, see section 810 of Pub. L. 96–39, set out as a note under section 5001 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1965 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 89–44 effective Oct. 1, 1965, see section 805(g)(2) of Pub. L. 89–44, set out as a note under section 5004 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 5223

Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73