After working the issue of how flavored beers are classified for a few years now, I find, unfortunately, that most of what I read about the issue is incorrect. Journalists making obvious mistakes, such as how these products are manufactured. Worse yet, they seem to swallow whatever the anti-alcohol advocates feed them, and do not do their own research. Imagine my surprise when I read the following article that asks the questions that deserve to be, but as of yet, have not been asked by the media establishment. I was even more surprised to learn that it was a college paper, the University of California, San Diego. I applaud the author for his research into this subject and his unbiased approach. I can only hope that he takes it with him where ever he lands after college.
Look for yourself.÷š Many government agencies, state driver×?Ts manuals, and consumer groups all tell the same thing ×?’ a standard drink of either beer, wine or spirits has the same amount of alcohol.÷š This is clearly indicated in the New York State driver×?Ts manual:
Different types of drinks do not affect you differently. It is the amount of alcohol you consume, not whether it is in beer, wine or wine cooler, or liquor, that raises your BAC and lowers your driving ability. These drinks contain about the same amount of alcohol - 1÷? ounces of liquor, 5 ounces of wine, 12 ounces of beer, and 12 ounces of wine cooler. None is “safer to drink” than the others. Whether through brewing, fermenting, or distilling, this alcohol will have the same chemical characteristics even though the taste is different.
There is something else that people will agree on.÷š A breathalyzer can×?Tt tell what kind of beverage alcohol a person drinks.÷š If one person drank a beer, glass of wine or shot of spirits ×?’ an equivalent amount of alcohol ×?’ and blew into a breathalyzer, the only information that could be discerned is the amount of alcohol in that person×?Ts system.
The tax rate on distilled spirits is almost three times the rate on table wine and over two times the rate on beer.÷š So, why is it that equivalent amounts of alcohol in different forms are not taxed at the same rate?÷š The discrepancy in the relative tax rates of these products just furthers the misperception that spirits are hard liquor and that beer is the drink of moderation.÷š In the breathalyzer tube, it is all the same ×?’ alcohol.
Don×?Tt be fooled.÷š Spirits aren×?Tt harder than beer or wine, just more concentrated, and a standard serving of each contains the same amount of alcohol.÷š There is moderate behavior not a beverage of moderation.÷š Maybe if the respective taxes were more in line, the equivalent nature of these products would be clearer.
If you think your income taxes or your property are too high consider for a moment the tax burden on the average American when he or she purchases a bottle of spirits. On average combined federal and state excise taxes alone (not counting sales and other taxes that apply) account for 26 percent of the price of a bottle of spirits. For a bottle of wine that number is 8 percent and for a six pack of beer it’s 9 percent.
While lawmakers are generally hesitant to raise income, property or sales taxes they are less so when it comes to spirits. In any given year excise tax increases are introduced in two to three dozen states. And they are introduced in states that are running budget surpluses, in other words, states that don’t need the money. In fact, since 1980 excise taxes at the state level have been raised a whopping 99 times.
Many states’ legislatures will be reconvening next month and lawmakers will begin grappling with state budget issues. If the past is any blueprint for the future we can expect dozens of proposals that will increase taxes on beer, wine and spirits. We will continue to fight these proposals and hold the line on what already amounts to excessive taxation on the distilled spirits industry and our consumers.
