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Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73

§5604 Penalties Relating to Marks, Brands, and Containers

Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle E— Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes › Chapter 51— DISTILLED SPIRITS, WINES, AND BEER › Subchapter J— Penalties, Seizures, and Forfeitures Relating to Liquors › Part I— PENALTY, SEIZURE, AND FORFEITURE PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO DISTILLING, RECTIFYING, AND DISTILLED AND RECTIFIED PRODUCTS › § 5604

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Liquor bottles and casks must carry required closures, marks, and brands, and tampering with them is a crime. It is illegal to transport, possess, buy, or sell distilled spirits whose containers lack the required closure, or to empty a sealed container without breaking the seal in order to defraud the government. Other banned acts include refilling a used liquor bottle without destroying its old closure, willfully removing or defacing marks, labels, or seals on cases or bottles, trading in empty marked casks with intent to defraud, altering the marks on a cask, or putting stronger or different spirits into a cask than its inspection mark shows.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §5604

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any person who shall—
(1)transport, possess, buy, sell, or transfer any distilled spirits unless the immediate container bears the type of closure or other device required by section 5301(d),
(2)with intent to defraud the United States, empty a container bearing the closure or other device required by section 5301(d) without breaking such closure or other device,
(3)empty, or cause to be emptied, any distilled spirits from an immediate container bearing any mark or brand required by law without effacing and obliterating such mark or brand as required by section 5206(d),
(4)place any distilled spirits in any bottle, or reuse any bottle for the purpose of containing distilled spirits, which has once been filled and fitted with a closure or other device under the provisions of this chapter, without removing and destroying such closure or other device,
(5)willfully and unlawfully remove, change, or deface any mark, brand, label, or seal affixed to any case of distilled spirits, or to any bottle contained therein,
(6)with intent to defraud the United States, purchase, sell, receive with intent to transport, or transport any empty cask or package having thereon any mark or brand required by law to be affixed to any cask or package containing distilled spirits, or
(7)change or alter any mark or brand on any cask or package containing distilled spirits, or put into any cask or package spirits of greater strength than is indicated by the inspection mark thereon, or fraudulently use any cask or package having any inspection mark thereon, for the purpose of selling other spirits, or spirits of quantity or quality different from the spirits previously inspected,
(b)For provisions relating to the authority of internal revenue officers to enforce provisions of this section, see section 5203, 5557, and 7608.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 5604, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 684, related to penalty and forfeiture for failure or refusal of distiller to give bond, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 85–859. See section 5601(a)(4), (5) and 5615(3) of this title. Provisions similar to those comprising 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)(1)5008(b)(1), 5642. (a)(2), (3)5636 (a)(4), (5)5642, 5644. (a)(6)5642 (a)(7) to (9)5636 (a)(10)5642, 5644. (a)(11)5643 (a)(12)5642, 5643. (a)(13) to (15)5642 (a)(16)5643 (a)(17)5635, 5636. (a)(18)5637 (a)(19)5638 (b)5642 The prior sections, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, are set out in 68A Stat. 602, 690 to 693.

Amendments

1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–369, § 454(c)(11)(A), in amending subsec. (a) generally, struck out references to stamps in pars. (1) to (3), redesignated pars. (12), (16), (17), (18) as pars. (4)–(7), respectively, in pars. (4) to (7) as so redesignated, struck out all references to stamps, and struck out former pars. (4) to (11), (13) to (15), and (19), which had consisted of additional provisions concerning penalties relating to stamps, marks, brands and containers. Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 98–369, § 454(c)(11)(A), in amending subsec. (b) generally, substituted provisions relating to cross references for provisions relating to officers authorized to enforce this section. 1979—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 96–39, § 807(a)(53)(A), substituted “section 5205(a)(1)” for “section 5205(a)(2)”. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 96–39, § 807(a)(53)(B), substituted “section 5205(a)(1)” for “section 5205(a)(1) or (2)” and “section 5205(a)(2)” for “section 5205(a)(3)”. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 96–39, § 807(a)(53)(C), substituted “section 5205(f)” for “section 5205(g)”. Subsec. (a)(6). Pub. L. 96–39, § 807(a)(53)(D), substituted “section 5205(a)(2)” for “section 5205(a)(3)”. Subsec. (a)(13). Pub. L. 96–39, § 807(a)(53)(E), substituted “section 5205(a)” for “section 5205(a)(2) and (3)”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–369 effective July 1, 1985, see section 456(b) of Pub. L. 98–369, set out as an

Effective Date

note under section 5101 of this title.

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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 5604

Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73