Clarify Occasional Alcohol Beverage Sale Exemption

Current law provides that the occasional sales of alcohol by way of public auctions do not require a liquor license or compliance with the reporting requirements for licensed liquor distributors or retailers, so long as:

• The previous owner of the alcohol beverages has not claimed the beverages or furnished instruction for their disposition;
• The seller obtained the beverages as part of the foreclosure of a lien;
• The seller salvaged the beverages; or
• The seller operates a charitable organization and received the beverages as donations.

However, the excise tax on alcohol beverages is nonetheless applicable to those occasional sales even though the licensing and compliance requirements do not apply.

Because it is not clear that the excise tax on alcohol beverages still applies to those occasional sales, it was mistakenly identified as a tax expenditure in the department of revenue's tax expenditure report and thus mistakenly evaluated by the office of the state auditor as part of that office's evaluation of the state's tax expenditures. The bill clarifies the exemption.

(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)