OLYMPIA, Wash. — Three state lawmakers are announcing a bill to reduce the excise tax consumers pay on every bottle of hard liquor.
Washington's taxes are the highest in the country, and senators Janéa Holmquist-Newbry, Steve Hobbs and Marko Liias have introduced legislation they say will provide relief to consumers and businesses from skyrocketing spirits taxes.
The legislation, SB 6547, will reduce the excise tax on spirits sales in Washington from 20.5 percent to the state tax rate of 6.5 percent over the course of eight years, bringing the tax rate in-line with what consumers pay for other goods in the state.
Currently, statewide taxes and fees on spirits are nearly five times the national average, which has caused a drastic jump in prices.
In Washington, consumers pay an average of $26.70 in taxes for one gallon of liquor. Oregon has the country's second highest excise tax with $22.73 a gallon. People in Idaho pay $10.92 per gallon; and California and Nevada are on the lower end with $3.30 and $3.60 per gallon.
If the bill is put into law, Washington would drop back into the pack by cutting the excise tax to the $7 to $8 per gallon range.
The bill sponsors predict the tax cut, over the next eight years, would bring in roughly $70 million a year in new liquor sales because consumers would be buying more with the lower prices.
They said the extra revenue would make up the loss in dropping the excise tax.
KIRO
