Rhode Island brewpub not exempt manufacturer.

Materials and equipment used to brew beer in a Rhode Island bar/restaurant were not exempt from sales and use tax as manufacturing equipment. It was decided that the brewpub, which sold beer only to its patrons, was one economic unit with the primary purpose of selling food and beverages, as 60% of its sales were from food. Though the brewpub is registered as a manufacturer by the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulations and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the court found that the brewpub was not the type of business intended by legislation to be exempt from sales and use tax. (Trinity Beerworks, Inc. v. R. Gary Clark, Tax Administrator, Rhode Island District Court, Sixth Division, No. A.A. 98-58, February 3, 2003)

Posted on June 15, 2003