Our Economic and Regulatory Environment
South Carolina has the highest beer excise tax in the continental United States – only
Alaska and Hawaii have higher taxes. And that doesn’t even count local
or state sales taxes, or the hospitality taxes charged in over 85%
of South Carolina’s cities. In fact, when you factor in all taxes nationally,
more than 44% of the cost of a beer flows to government – and South Carolina’s
high excise tax pushes that percentage even higher!
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ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE BEER INDUSTRY
IN SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina’s family-owned beer wholesalers have a broad impact in virtually every community in the state. For instance,
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The beer industry helps support a total of $1.6 billion in economic output annually in South Carolina
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A total of 20,500 jobs in SC can be directly traced back to the activities of the beer industry in South Carolina
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The full range of activities associated with the beer industry work to support a total of $153.4 million in tax revenue annually for South Carolina
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The beer industry supports almost 40,000 jobs for citizens of South Carolina – the wholesale segment employs over 20,000 of these positions.
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The sales, hospitality and other taxes add over $61 million to the state general fund each year.
Click
here for more information on The
Economic Impact of the Beer Industry in South Carolina, March 2003
BEER TAXES
- South Carolina’s excise tax on beer is highest in the Continental
United States, only Alaska and Hawaii have higher taxes. Collected
solely by the state’s beer wholesalers,
and brings in about $90 million in state revenue each year
- South Carolina’s excise tax is $1.73 per case – plus the federal
excise tax of $1.31 per case.
- South Carolina recently started charging sales tax on beer. Sales taxes range from 5% to 7% across the state.
- Hospitality taxes, averaging 2%, are charged in over 85% of the municipalities across the state.
Click
here for more information on Beer Tax Facts, The Economic and Societal Impacts
of
State
and
Federal
Taxes
on Beer
According to a recent study by the USC Moore School of Business:
An increase in the state excise tax on beer would result in a higher price of beer and an associated unpredictable decrease in beer purchases.
A higher beer tax would likely be ineffective in addressing problem drinking; however it would reduce in-state purchases by light and moderate drinkers, thus impairing the revenue-raising impact of the tax increase.
A given percentage increase in the state’s excise tax rate would result in a less than proportional increase in total tax collections.
An increase in the state’s excise tax rate would further increase the differential with neighboring states inducing more cross-border shopping, further dampening the revenue-raising ability of the tax hike.
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