Government reducing markup charged to NS Craft brewers

(Halifax, NS) - Inside Garrison Brewing's brewhouse Premier Stephen McNeil announced that Nova Scotia's Liberal government is changing the fee structure it currently levies on craft breweries. 

The Retail Sales Markup Allocation (RSMA) that is charged to craft brewers will change from $0.50 per litre on their beer to five per cent of wholesale costs of sales made directly. The Craft Brewers of Nova Scotia (CBANS) have been lobbying for this change for some time to bring the sector inline with both the wine and spirits industry in the province. 

"Craft brewers are playing an increasingly significant role in the economy and tourism in communities across the province," said Premier Stephen McNeil. "We're pleased to see the success of these entrepreneurs and look forward to this measure helping the sector keep growing."

"This change will have a positive impact in every region of the province," said Emily Tipton, president of the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia. "With more craft breweries per capita than any other province in Canada, and 12 per cent of Nova Scotia's tourists visiting a craft brewery this year, this announcement will help craft breweries grow and make more world-class beer." 

The change for craft brewers will take effect April 1, 2017 and will reduce the amount craft brewers pay by about $800,000 per year which will go into reinvesting in their breweries.

Unfiltered Brewing Sues the NSLC

(Halifax, NS) - The embattled liquor agencies in the Maritimes have one more fight on their hands. Unfiltered Brewing in Halifax is taking the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC) to court over a fee that Unfiltered considers an unconstitutional tax. 

The fee that is in question is the Retail Sales Mark-up Allocation that the NSLC levies on craft brewers. This fee, that is referred to as the remittance tax by craft breweries, is 50 cents for every liter they sell directly or gives away as a sample. This fee has been in the news over the last year and I spoke to it in a blog in April called How can Nova Scotia be more Craft Beer Friendly. The fee is 150% higher for breweries than wine or spirit producers and despite promises to harmonize the fee among industries it has never happened. The Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia (CBANS) holds that the money would be better suited being reinvested in equipment and jobs rather than being absorbed in to the NSLC's general revenue. 

In Unfiltered's filing, that was shared on twitter today, they said they paid $24,000 in their first year of operation and says this fee is unconstitutional and equates to a tax that the corporation does not have the authority to levy and collect. 

The case is scheduled for September 6th at 11:00 AM at the Lower Water Street courts.