Bacardi Gets Pork in Bailout

Submitted by andrew on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 2:29pm.

"Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Extends until December 31, 2009 arebate against excise taxes charged on rum imported from Puerto Ricoand the Virgin Islands. A $13.50 per proof gallon excise tax is appliedto distilled spirits imported to the U.S. Under this provision a $13.25rebate is returned to PR and the VI, and is retroactive back to January1, 2008. Permanent law sets the rebate at $10.50 per proof gallon. The most recent extension of the $13.50 rebateexpired January 1, 2008. Cost is $192 million. "

DISGUSTING: At least we will be able to afford to drink our way into forgetting our ecomic collapse and the onset of bipartisan corporate welfare.

UPDATE via Amy Federman for Bacardi

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wait, i didn't approve of

Submitted by VL on Fri, 10/03/2008 - 5:47pm.

wait, i didn't approve of this! dad!

RUM TAX BREAK REPORT

Submitted by Amy (not verified) on Sat, 10/04/2008 - 10:50am.

RUM TAX BREAK REPORT FALSE

Referencing the post above... There has been widespread misreporting on the rum tax provision. This is not a tax break for rum manufacturers. Please see the statement below from the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUS), the trade association representing producers and marketers of distilled spirits sold in the United States, correcting the misreporting. I have also provided the link below to the transcript of the White House briefing yesterday on the package during which Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto also corrected the record on the rum provision.

Thank you.

Amy Federman, for Bacardi

White House transcript
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/10/20081003-8.html

Distilled Spirits Council Statement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 3, 2008
CONTACT: Frank Coleman or Lisa Hawkins
(202) 682-8840

RUM TAX BREAK REPORT FALSE

There is confusion over a provision in the current financial rescue package which benefits the rum-producing territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This is not a tax break for rum makers as has been reported in the press and claimed on Capitol Hill.

It is fundamentally a revenue sharing arrangement between the U.S. government and the governments of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which Congress has voted to extend repeatedly over the last 20 years. Under this provision, the federal government rebates to the governments of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands most of the Federal Excise Tax collected on rum imported to the United States.

“Essentially, this longstanding policy allows the governments of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands to keep the taxes on the rum produced there. It is not a tax break for rum companies,” said Mark Gorman, Senior Vice President for the Distilled Spirits Council.

Website: http://www.distilledspirits.org

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