A Map of America's Beer Taxes

Excise taxes on beer, by state.

Whether you're planning a cross-country pub crawl or just wondering how much more that Guinness would cost if you lived in Nashville, you'll find some useful info in the Tax Foundation's state-by-state map of America's excise taxes on beer. The short takeaway: Thrifty drinkers are best off in Wyoming and worst off in Tennessee, which may explain why Music Row keeps cranking out songs about crying in your beer.

Comments

[Almanian!]

Crying in your beer just waters it down more, making the taxes even tougher to stomach

[fried wylie]

"We've reevaluated your property at the increased cubic footage and you owe."

[fried wylie]

Hey, why haven't the statists picked up on three dimensional property taxes?

[Virginian]

Don't give them any fucking ideas.

[robc]

Heinlein gave them the idea 50 years ago.

[fried wylie]

In the belief that things wont get better till they get worse, I was intentionally offering that idea for implementation.

[Zakalwe]

I can't tell if this is a joke or not. You do pay for the total value contained within the three dimensions of your property (including mineral rights underneath and airspace development potential for building up).

[fried wylie]

1. if it's me, assuming I'm joking is a safe bet.

2. not a property owner.

[fried wylie]

Though my suggestion would work more along the lines of appraising property for the full cubic footage between the stratosphere and the upper mantle.

[Zakalwe]

Eh, that's just a function of the land area. It sounds like you "want" either an area(/volume) tax or a "big building" tax instead of or in addition to the property (value) tax.

[fried wylie]

Yes, a straight volume tax. With resulting values immeasurably beyond the capacity of any of the 99% to afford.

Entire swaths of suburbia depopulated. The combination of resulting demand and the new tax rates causing the foreclosure of rental properties.

Homelessness for All. It's the only fair solution.

[sarcasmic]

Homebrewing thread!

[robc]

That maps gets things right, but its not technically excise taxes that make TN and KY so high.

It is the distributor tax, which is 9% in KY and something even more ridiculous in TN.

[Jesse Walker]

From the small print: "TN's figure includes the wholesale tax rate of 17%, converted into a gallonage excise tax rate."

[robc]

They did it for KY too, as KY's excise tax is $2.50 per bbl, which is much less that $0.76 per gallon.

The problem with the wholesaler tax is that it hits high price items harder. Screwing craft beer but benefiting Budweiser.

[robc]

A few years ago, KY was discussing bumping up the distributor tax but instead added the sales tax on to liquor, which it didnt apply to earlier.

[Auric Demonocles]

I'm kind of surprised that MA has a lower beer tax than VT. Vermont has much more of a beer culture.

[fried wylie]

Sounds like VT brewers are evading taxes by selling in MA.

Bust out the jackboots and let the shooting commence.

[Auric Demonocles]

Cops in Vermont would lose in a firefight.

[fried wylie]

Which is the exact justification for a Federal Jackboot Department, to ensure equal and fair application of armed tyranny.

[SIV]

Interesting how the tax doesn't reflect relative retail pricing in the states I'm familiar with.

Texas has the most expensive beer of any state I frequent. The distributors must be making a killing.

[robc]

Texas has a number of other regulations that make it difficult to sell beer in the state.

[Auric Demonocles]

These prices are per gallon, so they aren't a huge percentage of the total cost.

[Robert]

Interesting geographic distribution, running contrary to many tax trends. Any idea why that clustering?