Honorable Bryan Hughes, Chair, Senate Committee on State Affairs
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB1932 by Creighton (Relating to authorizing secondary wine sales; requiring a registration; authorizing an administrative penalty; authorizing a fee and a tax.), As Introduced
Passage of the bill would create a new tax on certain containers of wine purchased from a registered wine collector. It is unknown how many wine collectors would be licensed by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission or how many containers of wine subject to the tax would be sold. As a result, the fiscal impact of the bill cannot be determined.
The bill would amend the Alcoholic Beverage Code by adding Chapter 111 regarding secondary wine sales.
The bill would allow persons to register as a wine collector with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). The registration would require a background check, a fee set by TABC, and any other requirements TABC prescribes by rule. This analysis assumes that TABC costs associated with implementing provisions of the bill could be absorbed within existing resources.
A registered wine collector could sell wine lawfully owned by them, that is at least 20 years old, and is in the sealed original packaging to certain permitted restaurants. The restaurant could then sell that wine to ultimate consumers for on-premise consumption. The restaurant must hold a food and beverage certificate from TABC and either a mixed beverage permit, a wine and malt beverage retailer's permit, or a private club registration permit to purchase wine from a registered wine collector. Restaurants would have certain recordkeeping requirements related to purchases of wine from registered wine collectors. Failure to meet the recordkeeping requirements would subject the restaurant to an administrative penalty of $500.
The bill would require the permitted restaurants to remit a tax of $1.00 on each container of wine purchased from a registered wine collector. The tax would be remitted in the same manner as the tax on liquor under Chapter 201, Subchapter A of the Alcoholic Beverage Code.
Although the permits, penalties, and taxes related to this bill could lead to increased revenue to the state, the amounts are unknown.
Local Government Impact
No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
304 Comptroller of Public Accounts, 458 Alcoholic Beverage Commission