Wholesale Beer Tax Return
All wholesale beer returns need to be completed in its entirety and submitted to the Collections Office, along with payment by the 20th of each month.
(The remittance amount owed to the county should reflect line 2 on the Wholesale Beer Tax return BER107.)
Mailing Address
Metro Nashville Finance Collections
P. O. Box 305172
Dept. 168
Nashville, TN 37230-5172
Legal Basis of Tax
Purpose
Tax the wholesale sales of barrels of beer to retailers and manufacturers operating as a retailer.
Tax Rate
$35.60 per barrel of thirty-one liquid gallons (31 gals.) of beer sold. The tax upon barrels containing more or less than thirty-one gallons (31 gals.) shall be taxed at a proportionate rate.
Remitted by
Wholesaler is required to collect the fee from the licensed retailer at time and location of sale. Wholesaler is required to file a monthly report containing a list of all alcohol sold, the wholesale price and the amount of tax due from all sales. Wholesaler is entitled to retain 92¢ of the gross tax owed per barrel to defray the cost of collecting and remitting the tax.
Tax Bill
Finance is not required to send a tax bill.
Applicable Authority
Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA), Title 57, Chapter 6, Part I. WHOLESALE BEER TAX (as amended by 2013 Tennessee Laws Pub. Ch. 189 (S.B. 422).
T.C.A. § 57-6-103 Collection; calculation; disposition (a) There is hereby imposed on the sale of beer at wholesale a tax equal to thirty-five dollars and sixty cents ($35.60) per barrel of thirty-one liquid gallons (31 gals.) of beer sold. The tax upon barrels containing more or less than thirty-one gallons (31 gals.) shall be taxed at a proportionate rate. Every wholesaler, on or before the twentieth day of each month, based on wholesale sales in the preceding calendar month, shall remit to each county the amount of the net tax on such person's wholesale sales to retailers and other persons in the county, and to each municipality the amount of the net tax on such person's wholesale sales to retailers and other persons within the corporate limits of the municipality.
(b) (Deleted in its entirety.)
(c) For the purpose of this chapter, all sales made by wholesalers at the wholesalers' places of business, as well as any sale or transfer contemplated by § 57–5–101(c)(2) by a manufacturer operating as a retailer to a location owned or operated by such manufacturer-retailer, shall be deemed to be wholesale sales and the tax herein imposed shall be collected on all such sales.
(d) The tax collected on any such sales made to licensed retailers shall be paid to the county or municipality in which the retailer's place of business is located, and the tax on all other sales made at the wholesaler's place of business shall be paid to the county or city in which the wholesaler's place of business is located.
(e) (Deleted in its entirety.)
(f) Seventeen cents (17¢) of the gross tax owed per barrel shall be remitted at the same time to the department, to be kept in a special fund and to be used only for expenses of the department in the administration of this chapter.
(g) Ninety-two cents (92¢) of the gross tax owed per barrel shall be retained by the wholesaler or manufacturer operating as a retailer to defray the cost of collecting and remitting the tax.
(h) Any municipality having a metropolitan form of government and a population of over four hundred fifty thousand (450,000) according to the 1990 federal census or any subsequent federal census may, by ordinance of its legislative body, designate the county clerk as the collector of the tax herein authorized for the entire metropolitan taxing jurisdiction.
(i)(1) A municipality that is annexing territory by extension of its corporate limits or a new incorporating municipality shall provide written notice of the date of the annexation or incorporation and the name and address of each retailer located in the annexed or newly incorporated territory to each wholesaler selling beer within the annexed or newly incorporated territory. The municipality shall deliver the written notice to the wholesaler's representative designated pursuant to § 57-5-105(c)(6).The tax imposed by this section shall be due to the municipality beginning with the first full calendar month after receipt of the notice required by this subsection (g) and thereafter.(2) Taxes paid to a county pursuant to this section on sales to a retailer made before January 1, 2000, shall be deemed to satisfy any obligations that the wholesaler may have to pay taxes on the same sales to such municipality that has annexed or newly incorporated the territory where the retailer is located.
T.C.A. § 57-6-104-Filing Required Information
(a) Each wholesaler shall maintain a wholesale price list, and shall file the list with the department and with the tax collecting official of each county and municipality wherein the wholesaler makes wholesale sales. Notice of any change in such price list shall be delivered to the department and the tax collecting official of each county and municipality as aforementioned. Notices required herein shall be filed as follows:(1) In case of a new business or a wholesaler acquiring a new brand not previously distributed, a price list shall be filed within five (5) days after either occurrence; and (2) In case of any change in an existing price list previously filed, a revised price list shall be filed at least three (3) days prior to the effective date of any change.
(b) A wholesaler shall not be permitted to file a wholesale price list that reduces the price of beer on quantity sales by brand, container, material and category even though the quantity wholesale price is uniform to all retailers and to all other persons. The price shall be fixed on each brand sold by container, material and category. It shall be the same price regardless of the quantity of beer sold of a given brand by container, material and category.
(h) A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.