[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 534 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 534

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a reduced rate of 
  excise tax on beer produced domestically by certain small producers.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 9, 2011

 Mr. Kerry (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Wyden, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Schumer, 
      Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Burr, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Brown of 
    Massachusetts, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. 
Chambliss, Mr. Tester, Mr. Cochran, Ms. Cantwell, Mr. Portman, and Mr. 
    Cardin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a reduced rate of 
  excise tax on beer produced domestically by certain small producers.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Brewer's Employment and Excise 
Relief Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. REDUCED RATE OF EXCISE TAX ON BEER PRODUCED DOMESTICALLY BY 
              CERTAIN SMALL PRODUCERS.

    (a) In General.--Paragraph (2) of section 5051(a) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) and (C) as 
        subparagraphs (C) and (D), respectively, and
            (2) by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the 
        following new subparagraphs:
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of a brewer who 
                produces not more than 6,000,000 barrels of beer during 
                the calendar year, the per barrel rate of tax imposed 
                by this section shall be--
                            ``(i) $3.50 on the first 60,000 qualified 
                        barrels of production, and
                            ``(ii) $16 on the first 1,940,000 qualified 
                        barrels of production to which clause (i) does 
                        not apply.
                    ``(B) Qualified barrels of production.--For 
                purposes of this paragraph, the term `qualified barrels 
                of production' means, with respect to any brewer for 
                any calendar year, the number of barrels of beer which 
                are removed in such year for consumption or sale and 
                which have been brewed or produced by such brewer at 
                qualified breweries in the United States.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Subparagraph (C) of section 5051(a)(2) of the Internal 
        Revenue Code of 1986, as redesignated by this section, is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ``2,000,000 barrel quantity'' and 
                inserting ``6,000,000 barrel quantity'', and
                    (B) by striking ``60,000 barrel quantity'' and 
                inserting ``60,000 and 1,940,000 barrel quantities''.
            (2) Subparagraph (D) of such section, as so redesignated, 
        is amended by striking ``2,000,000 barrels'' and inserting 
        ``6,000,000 barrels''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to beer removed during calendar years beginning after the date of 
the enactment of this Act.
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