Legal Limits (was Re: [Sca-cooks] Mead & Wix)

[Nick Sasso]

Brewers and vintners should very definitely research the regultions
personally.  Georgia includes in its definition of "Head of Household"

3-6-3 (b) For purposes of this Code section, a single individual who
is
               not a dependent of another person for purposes of
Georgia income
               taxation shall be considered a head of a household.

 I would enjoy having citations of Article, chapter and paragraph for
the federal regulations on either wine or malt beverages so that I can
compare the definitions and the deference stipulated to local states in
this matter.  While Federal Code supercedes State in most cases, it also
defers to states in in many situations of definition and application.  I
assure you that the law in Georgia, at least as of 12/1/01, is "real".
Different States have different options available for preparing and
selling fermented beverages.  They are all rather involved in Georgia,
and involve lots of different tax and licencing fees and applications.

niccolo

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Gedney" <Gedney1 at iconn.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, September 10, 2002 1:03 PM
Subject: RE: Legal Limits (was Re: [Sca-cooks] Mead & Wix)


>
>    Please be sure to check with your local, county, state
>    regulations where
>    you live.  The Official Code of Ga. Annotated (OCGA) references
home
>    wine production in 3-6-3 (actually 3-6-1 thru 71) and malt
beverages in
>    3-5-4 (3-5-1 thru 90).
>
>    In Georgia, a head of household may produce 200 gallons of wine
and 50
>    gallons of malt beverages per year for household consumption (see
>    Official Code of Georgia Annotated for definitions).  You may,
however,
>    be able to obtain selling permits in your area.


Please note that the Federal code limits that amount to 100 gallons of
wine,
unless the household you are "Head" of has TWO OR MORE adults in it.

Always Remember that the states cannot loosen a federal restriction,
only
add further restrictions. So the 200 gallon wine limit is the Federal
limit,
and I suspect that the only "real" law is the one that limits the Malt
beverages.

Let me emphasize that getting a permit to manufacture and sell any
alcohol
product is not as simple as going to the town hall and filling out a
few
forms.
I suspect that the "selling Permit" you are referenceing is not a
munufacture permit.

Extensive rules regarding Taxes, Escrow accounts, book keeping,
maintenance
of Penal Bonds, storage facilities for ingredients, and finished
products,
and the registration and testing of recipes and processes, as well as
regular and surprise inspection of both books and site facilities are
all
part of the code for alcoholic beverage manufacturing.
For Distilled spirits plants the requirements are even more
restrictive.

Manufacturing to sell is not something that the average homebrewer
just
"does".

Failing to follow these rules and selling your goods, or even trading
them
for value, is Federal tax evasion, and the law requires mandatory
prosecution, and forfeitures and seizures are not uncommon, these
days.

Your particular state may add other restrictions as well.
( Of course, If you are in some other country than the US, Other rules
will
apply )
Just a fair warning from someone who has actually looked into this.

Brandu