"Old beer tax volume scale" is permanently restored

In its plenary session on Thursday, 22 September 2022, the German Bundestag adopted the draft of an 8th law amending excise tax laws submitted by the Federal Government. This means that the "old beer tax scale", which was in force before the 2004 Budget Accompanying Act came into force, will now be permanently restored, i.e. beyond 31 December 2022, and that a demand of the Association of Private Breweries, which had been made for almost two decades, will be met.

"For almost 20 years, we have been working as representatives of small and medium-sized breweries throughout Germany towards the restoration of the 'old beer tax volume scale'. Especially in view of the current difficult situation of the brewing industry, the abolition of the reduced tax rates within the framework of the beer tax volume scale is an urgently needed relief," Roland Demleitner, Managing Director of the Verband Private Brauereien Deutschland e.V., comments on the decision.

As early as May 2022, a majority of the Bundesrat (upper house of the German parliament) expressed its support for the temporary restoration of the "old beer tax scale" until 31 December 2022 against the backdrop of the Corona pandemic and the resulting considerable burdens on the small and medium-sized brewing industry, and thus to allow the reduced beer tax rates applicable prior to the entry into force of the 2004 Budget Accompanying Act to continue to apply or to be reinstated for an unlimited period of time. In this context, the Federal Council expressly emphasised that this step could also correct the disproportionate increase of the tax rates in the area of the beer tax volume scale in 2003.

The reduced beer tax rates according to § 2 para. 2 BierStG serve to maintain the structure of a medium-sized brewing industry in the Federal Republic of Germany and are intended to contribute to at least partially compensating for the size-related competitive disadvantages of small, independent breweries in comparison to large brewing groups.

"By restoring the 'old beer tax volume scale', politicians are not only acknowledging the existence-threatening situation in which the medium-sized brewing industry finds itself after two years of the Corona pandemic and during the current energy crisis. With this decision, small and medium-sized breweries have also moved back into the focus of politics as regional employers and cultural ambassadors," Roland Demleitner is pleased to say.

The Association of Private Breweries expressly thanks the Bundestag and the Bundesrat for this important and necessary step, which makes a significant contribution to securing the existence of the medium-sized brewing industry in difficult times.