Notes · US tax mechanics
The tax credit your importer may be leaving on the table.
If you sell wine into the US, the federal government offers a tax credit worth about $2.38 a case. It is called the credit. Many producers never see that money, because claiming it starts with you, not your importer. Here is how it works, in plain terms.
The basics
Every bottle of wine that enters the US pays a federal alcohol tax. For still wine up to 16 percent alcohol, that tax is $1.07 per gallon, which is about $2.54 on a 9-litre case. The credit shrinks that tax. On your first 30,000 gallons each year, the credit is $1.00 per gallon, so the tax drops from $1.07 to 7 cents. Bigger volumes get smaller credits: 90 cents per gallon on the next 100,000 gallons, then 53.5 cents per gallon on the next 620,000 gallons.
What it is worth to you
A 9-litre case is about 2.38 gallons, so the full credit is worth about $2.38 a case. The first band alone covers roughly 12,600 cases a year, which is more than most producers ship. Send 5,000 cases a year without claiming the credit and you give up around $11,900. Every year. Sparkling wine pays a higher base tax, $3.40 per gallon, but gets the same credit, dollar for dollar.
How to claim it
Three steps, since January 2023. First, you register on the TTB's online portal, myTTB. Second, you assign your credit to your importer for the year. Third, your importer pays the full tax at the border and then claims the money back from the TTB each quarter. The key point is the order: you start the process. If you never assign the credit, nobody downstream can claim it.
Where producers lose out
Four common ways. They never register. They register late, and the credit runs by calendar year. They split it across several importers without a plan. Or, most often, they assume the refund reaches them automatically. It does not. The money lands in the importer's account. Whether it improves your price, funds your promotions, or simply stays with the importer is a negotiation, and it belongs in your import agreement from day one.
Figures checked against TTB's CBMA import guidance and 27 CFR part 27, subpart P (July 2026). General information, not tax advice: your accountant has the last word.
Where this fits
In an entry budget, $2.38 a case can be the difference between a price that works and one that gets squeezed. The audit builds it in from the start.