Pennsylvania is home to hundreds of breweries of all sizes. In the craft beer industry, we rank second both in production and economic impact. The malt beverage tax credit was reauthorized in 2016 to allow breweries that invest in their facility or equipment to claim a tax credit equal to the amount of capital expenditures they incurred, up to a maximum of $200,000. Because the tax credit is not refundable, can’t be sold, and can only be carried forward for three years, this unfortunately means that many smaller breweries can’t use the full credit amount. A new brewery would easily incur capital expenditures of $200,000 or more to become operational, and yet it would only be able to use a portion of the credit it would earn at a time when it needs the funds most.

That is why we will soon be introducing legislation that would allow the malt beverage tax credit to be carried forward for up to five years and would permit tax credit recipients to sell their credits to other Pennsylvania breweries.

Please join us in making these commonsense changes to support Pennsylvania’s robust craft beer industry by helping more local breweries take advantage of the malt beverage tax credit.