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Bill Would Cut Price Of Hard Liquor

Bjorn
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/62005704@N00/

The price of bourbon and other hard liquor could go down sharply under a bill introduced by an Indiana congressman.

Distilled spirits are subject to a $13.50 a gallon tax.

Ninth District Republican Todd Young says his district is home to several small distillers, and he thinks they‘re the kind of small business government should encourage.

Young argues the whole notion of so-called "sin taxes" on alcohol is out of date, and says the tax on bourbon and other spirits is out of proportion -- he says it can be responsible for as much as half the retail price.

"These are small businesses with small margins and, to the extent they are able, are investing whatever profits they earn back into the business and creating jobs," says Young. "That's precisely the sort of thing we need to incentivize in all sectors of our economy."

Young and Kentucky Democrat John Yarmuth are proposing an 80-percent cut in the tax on the first 100,000 gallons a distiller produces.

They‘d get a 33% reduction for everything more than that.

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