Oregon Wine Tax Proposal Pt 1
With today’s Fruit Grower Report, I’m Bob Larson. It seems raising taxes is all the rage in state capitals these days, but in Oregon, lawmakers are proposing a tax on wine that I thought was a misprint.
Elin Miller, with the Oregon Wine Council, says it’s actually a bit shocking …
MILLER … “For wine, a huge increase, 1,700% tax increase on wine which is absolutely ridiculous, especially after what we went through in 2020 with not only COVID, but also wildfires.”
Those challenges of the past year, Miller says hit the wine industry hard …
MILLER … “Our tasting rooms across the state had an 80% drop in revenue. And then, overall, because we are able to sell direct to consumer and other ways, through wine clubs, etc. But, even with that, because of restaurants, it was a 60% drop in revenue overall for most of the wineries.”
So now, Miller says is a bad time for this …
MILLER … “For 2021, we can’t really be looking at any kind of tax increase let alone this outrageous 1,700%.”
The tax money, Miller says would be used, allegedly, to treat addicts …
MILLER … “There’s no question that we need to look at doing more as a community for addiction, and I think that is one of the main emphasis here.”
For more information and to sign a petition against this tax, go to www.donttaxmydrink.org
Listen tomorrow for this shocking tax proposal for Oregon wines.
