Federal budget deal includes Oregon tax breaks

A new bill will benefit some alcohol producers in the state.

A $680 billion tax package that Pres. Barack Obama recently signed into law made permanent or renewed more than 50 temporary tax breaks—some that benefit Oregon specifically.

With many hard cider producers in Oregon, one of the extensions that the state’s small business owners were pushing for was an increase on the amount of alcohol and carbonation that’s allowed for hard cider and a reduction on the excise tax for products that exceed those levels.

“Because many cider producers are small, craft operators who rely on natural, raw materials, they often have little ability to predict and control the precise alcohol content and carbonation level of their product,” the United States Association of Cider Makers said in a statement.

Before the legislation, hard cider was allowed up to 7 percent alcohol by volume (ABV) and carbonation levels below 0.393 grams per 100 milliliters—or be subject to an excise tax ranging between $3.30 and $3.40 per gallon, the Daily Caller reported. The new agreement would allow the ABV to go as high as 8.5 percent and the carbonation level to increase to 6.4 grams per liter and decrease the excise tax on those producers who go over.

Also included in the legislation was a permanent small business expensing limit of $500,000—a huge win for small business owners across the country.

For more on what the legislation means, check out NFIB’s coverage of this major victory.

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