Balto. Sun: Booze Tax and Shipping a Compromise (Yeah, Right....)

The Baltimore Sun, in an article by Julie Bykowicz and Jessica Anderson, depicts the recent proposals to change Maryland's alcohol laws as something of a compromise--in trade for higher sales taxes (buried at the back of the article), you get the possibility that you can order wine from other states.  (Once again, nothing about shipping spirits or "beer-of-the-month" clubs is mentioned.)


I believe that the hype surrounding wine shipments is somewhat exaggerated.  Only a limited number of boutique operations will ever pay the proposed fees to be permitted to ship into Maryland or sell at farmers' markets.  It's certainly not going to happen for one or two chance orders from a small place someone runs across during their vacation travels, but only for organized "wine club" efforts.  The tax increase, however, will bite every retail purchaser of alcoholic beverages.


And let me be among the first to call the proposed increase from six to nine percent sales tax increase (spread over three years) what it is: a fifty percent increase in alcohol sales tax.