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Tax on beer sold at Pennsylvania breweries goes into effect

  • The Associated Press
In this Aug. 7, 2017 photo, Jesse Hulien, right, drinks a beer as Molly Hartman, left, looks on, at the Church Brew Works, a former church renovated into a brewery, in Pittsburgh. Breweries opening in renovated churches are winning fans but earning disapproval from clergy and worshippers across the U.S.

 Dake Kang / AP Photo

In this Aug. 7, 2017 photo, Jesse Hulien, right, drinks a beer as Molly Hartman, left, looks on, at the Church Brew Works, a former church renovated into a brewery, in Pittsburgh. Breweries opening in renovated churches are winning fans but earning disapproval from clergy and worshippers across the U.S.

(Harrisburg) — A tax on beer sold at Pennsylvania breweries and brew pubs is in effect, and some are passing along the higher cost to customers.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that the use tax of about 1.5 percent that began Tuesday is technically a tax on the brewer for using its own products at its business.

One brewer tells the paper the tax will amount to about a dime on a $6 pint.

The tax level is determined by multiplying a quarter of all retail sales by the local sales tax. The sales tax is 6% in most of the state, but 7% in the Pittsburgh area and 8% in Philadelphia. That means the new tax is effectively 1.5%, 1.75% and 2%.

bill setting the tax rate was enacted in June.

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