I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1172 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce the rate of tax 
on distilled spirits produced by small distilleries. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 27, 2015 
Mr. LARSEN of Washington (for himself and Mr. STIVERS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce 
the rate of tax on distilled spirits produced by small 
distilleries. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Distillery Excise Tax 
Reform Act of 2015’’. 
SEC. 2. REDUCED RATE FOR SMALL DOMESTIC DIS-
TILLERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 5001 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating subsection 
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(c) as subsection (d) and by inserting after subsection (b) 
the following new subsection: 
‘‘(c) REDUCED RATE FOR CERTAIN SMALL DOMES-
TIC PRODUCERS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any person 
who produces not more than 100,000 proof gallons 
of distilled spirits during the calendar year, the rate 
of tax imposed by subsection (a)(1) shall be $2.70 
per proof gallon produced in the United States (and 
a proportionate tax at the like rate on all fractional 
parts of such a proof gallon). 
‘‘(2) CONTROLLED GROUPS.—In the case of a 
controlled group, the 100,000 proof gallon quantity 
specified in paragraph (1) shall be applied to the 
controlled group. For purposes of the preceding sen-
tence, the term ‘controlled group’ shall have the 
meaning given such term by subsection (a) of section 
1563, except that ‘more than 50 percent’ shall be 
substituted for ‘at least 80 percent’ each place it ap-
pears in such subsection. Under regulations pre-
scribed by the Secretary, principles similar to the 
principles of the preceding two sentences shall be ap-
plied to a group under common control where one or 
more of the persons is not a corporation. 
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‘‘(3) 
PREVENTING
ABUSE
OF
REDUCED 
RATE.—The Secretary shall prescribe regulations 
similar to the regulations prescribed under section 
5051(a)(2)(C) to prevent the reduced rates provided 
in paragraph (1) from benefitting any person who 
produces more than 100,000 proof gallons of dis-
tilled spirits during a calendar year.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Paragraph (1) of section 5010(a) is amend-
ed— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘(if any)’’ after ‘‘excess’’, 
and 
(B) by inserting ‘‘($2.70 in the case of a 
person described in section 5001(c))’’ after 
‘‘$13.50’’ in subparagraph (A). 
(2) Paragraph (2) of section 5010(a) is amend-
ed by inserting ‘‘($2.70 in the case of a person de-
scribed in section 5001(c))’’ after ‘‘$13.50’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall take effect on January 1, 2016. 
Æ 
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