Washington sentinel., 1900-06-16
INFORMATION FOR BREWERS
AND OTHERS.
rnr nn Fermented LIau rs.

The Commissioner of Internal Reve-
nue. has published The following opinion
Of the United States Attorney General.
relating to the question Of the rate ol
tax on termented liquors:
To the .SecyetayY ofhe Treasury,
Sir: have The honor to acknowledge
the receipt of yours of March IL, 1900,
n which you resubmit the following
question (which was set out in yours OF
March IS, ISee), and ask my opinion;
"Is the tax upon fermented liquors,
bearing the ola 81 stamp, which we're
removed from the brewery on June IA
without the new S2 stamp, owing to the
failure of the Government to furnish
same, a tax Of s. per barrel or of 81 IS,
or of IS cents2"
The law as 1t existed -tsection $3.50,
Revised Statutes) before the act OF June
IA, 1858, known as the war revenue act,
went into effect levied upon every barrel
oflager beer containing Al gallons or
less a tax of 81, which was paid by
stamp. The first section Of the war
IGNGIluG dNN - do lObONos
"That th ere shall be paid, IN lieu of
the tax Of 81 now imposed by law, tax
of s. on all beer, lager beer, ale, porter,
and other similar iermented liquors,
brewed or manufactured and sold. or
stt,,ryC,,,t-Ln warehouse, or removed for
-,s,,>.sulnptiOn or sale, within the United
States, by whatever name such liquors
may be called, for every barrel contain
ing not more than 81 gallons; ard at
like rate for any other quantity or for
the fractional parts Of barrel authorized
and defined by law. And section 80 g
of the Revised Sta is hereby
amended accordingly: Provided, That
a discount OF IN per Cen'um shall be
allowed upon all sales by collectors to
brewers of the stamps provided for the
payment of said tax: Provided further,
That the additional tax imposed IN this
section on all termented liquors stored
in warehouse to which stamp had been
affixed shall be assessed and collected
IN the manner now provided by law for
the collection OF taxes not paid by
stamps"
In the outset, by the provisions Of this
section, tax of 81, in lieu OF the then
existing tax OF 81 per barrel, is levied
upon each barrel OF lager beer and other
fermented liquors brewed. and manufac-
tured and sold, or stored in warehouse,
or removed for consumption or sale
within the United States, II the law.
makers had stopped here, there could
be no doubt that the tax had been
increased from 81 to s. per barrel.
But they go further and provide THAT
a discount OF IL per centum shall be
allowed on all sales by collectors to
brewers Of the stamps provided for the
payment Of said tax" In other words
collectors are required by the law to sell
to the brewer the 81 worth Of stamps
necessary to pay the tax upon a 81
gallon barrel OF beer for SI,8S; and.
although the stamps, when affixed to
the barrel Of b GER, indicate a tax of 81,
yet. in fact, the taxpayer has only paid
and the Government has only received
srSs therefor. And il cannot be other.
wise, for the tax has to be paid by stamps
provided bv the Government, and the
law says that upon such stamps, when
sold by the authorized agents Of the
Government, there must he allowed to
the taxpayer who purchases them a
discount Of II per cent.
Under section 1889, as before stated,
the tax was 81 per barrel, and this was
without discount to the taxpayer.
Therefore, to purchase the stamps
required upon a barrel under the new
law requires S5 cents in addition to the
amount which was required to purchase
the stamps before the latter law went
into effect.
1t appears that at the time the war
revenue act became operative, some of
the brewers or manufacturers had in
their warehouses barrels Of beer upon
which they had already paid the tax of
81 and had affixed the stamps necessary
to denote such payment; and now the
question arises as to what should be the
amount Of assessment for additional tax
upon barrels of beer found in this situ-
alton.
1t will be observed that the last pro
Yiso oi section I, above quoted, directs
that the additional tax imposed on all
iermented liquors stored in warehouse
to which a stamp had been affixed shall
be assessed and collected in the manner
now provided by law for the collection
of taxes not paid by stamps. When the
method OF collecting the additional tax
upon beer for which the existing tax OF
81 had already been paid was prescribed
by Congress in the above provision, it
was no doubt in contemplation OF the
fact that the increase In the tax was IS
cents per barrel, and to require the
purchase of stamps for the payment Of
such additional tax would have levied
greater rate upon beer OF this class than
upon beer which was TO be wholly tax
paid under the new law. The brewer
had already paid tax OF 81 per barrel;
and then, to buy another 81 stamp
under the new regime, less the IL per
cent discount, would cost him 97H
cents, thus making his tax upon his
barrel ofheer 81. q21z, when the tax upon
others under the new law was only SrSS.
The plan of co lsctiDg bV assessment,
therefore, the additional tax upon beer
which had already paid the anterior tax
was adopted iE order that the tax might
be uniform upon all beer going upon the
market at the same time