Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Raising taxes on alcohol would hurt Nevadans

Regarding the Tuesday story on LasVegasSun.com, “Lawmakers debate tax hike on cigarettes, alcohol to raise revenue”:

Nevada legislators should not raise alcohol taxes. Imposing a regressive tax on a highly taxed product will only slow the state’s recovery from the recent recession.

According to the Tax Foundation, those earning less than $20,000 a year face federal alcohol tax burdens that are more than 18 times higher than those making in excess of $200,000. Alcohol tax increases also result in job losses: When the federal beer tax doubled in 1991, roughly 60,000 jobs were lost nationwide, according to the Beer Institute. And an increase in the spirits tax resulted in the elimination of 98,000 jobs nationwide, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Nevada’s unemployment rate is 13.6 percent. Legislators shouldn’t threaten the livelihoods of our waiters and waitresses by imposing further roadblocks to the hospitality industry’s recovery.

The writer is managing director of the American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade group.

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