2017-26283: Implementation of Statutory Amendments Requiring the Modification of the Definition of Hard Cider; Delayed Compliance Date for the Hard Cider Tax Class Labeling Statement Requirement; Reopening of Comment Period

Summary

On January 23, 2017, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) published a temporary rule, T.D. TTB-147, Implementation of Statutory Amendments Requiring the Modification of the Definition of Hard Cider, that amended its regulations to implement changes made to the definition of "hard cider" in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act (PATH Act) of 2015. The amended regulations included a requirement that the statement "Tax class 5041(b)(6)" appear on the container of any wine for which the hard cider tax rate is claimed if the wine is removed from wine premises or customs custody on or after January 1, 2018. Concurrent with the temporary rule, TTB published Notice of Proposed Rulemaking No. 168 requesting comments on the regulatory amendments made by T.D. TTB-147. In response to a comment received from a cider industry trade association, TTB, in a temporary rule published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register, is now delaying the compliance date for the hard cider tax class labeling requirement by one year, until January 1, 2019. In this document, TTB is requesting comments on that delayed compliance date, and we are also re-opening the comment period for Notice No. 168 for an additional 60 days to request comments on the regulatory amendments described in T.D. TTB-147.

The agency’s own summary, as published.

What this changes

Amends 2 parts of the Code of Federal Regulations — the standing rules this notice rewrites.

• 27 CFR 24 Wine
• 27 CFR 27 Importation of Distilled Spirits, Wines, and Beer