Beer earns Illinois $792 million in taxes
Posted in Uncategorized on April 20th, 2009 by tjelliottA recent report by the Beer Institute shows that Illinois earned approximately $792 million in state and local business, personal, sales and excise taxes in 2008.
The same study said that the American economy saw a $200 billion injection of beer money from the industry as a whole, which includes brewers, distributors and retailers.
Now, this triumvirate of the beer industry is a throw back to Prohibition era politics, when a newly beer-tolerant nation still wanted to maintain the illusion of control over alcohol. So, the government created a three-tier system of producers, distributors and retailers as a means to regulate the production of alcohol through distribution.
Beer Wars (the movie), argues that this system prevents smaller brewers from getting a real start. It’s hard to earn space on distributors trucks when Budweiser, Miller and Coors have 70% of the space (and the buying power).
At the same time, the National Beer Wholesalers Association says the system helps keep beer safe for consumption and salmonella free. Though, that’s exactly what the middle-men would say.
However you look at it, the beer business is big money in Illinois, and with craft beer sales on the rise, Chicago brewers are poised to add to that total in 2009.