A new report shows how individual states are taxing their beer sales.
The report was done by the Tax Foundation and listed the 50 states from cheapest to most expensive state taxes on beer.
Illinois finished 28th on the list with a sales tax of $0.23 per gallon.
Other than Kentucky, Illinois has a higher tax than neighboring states, with Indiana at $0.12, Michigan at $0.20, and Wisconsin with the nation’s second lowest tax at just $0.06. The Land of Lincoln has the third highest tax in the Midwest. Nearby Tennessee has the highest in the nation at $1.29 per gallon.
Ray Stout of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild explained to WGN earlier this summer before Craft Beer Week how big the beer market is in Illinois.
“The craft beer in the state is pretty sizable,” Stout said. “There are about 300 breweries across the state of Illinois, and it contributes about $3.3 billion to the economy.”
Earlier this year, Gov. J.B. Pritzker halted the state’s grocery tax in an effort to bring relief to the Illinois residents post-pandemic and due to help deal with record inflation. The grocery tax does not include beer or liquor sales.
Stout said that the beer industry in Illinois is still working its way back post-pandemic.
“The past two years have been very, very hard and the industry is very much in a state of recovery,” Stout said. “But I can’t think of another industry that rallies around each other during times of trouble or times of heartache like the craft beer industry.”
***Courtesy of the Illinois Radio Network***
