We can do this. Visit Vaccines.gov to find COVID-19 vaccines near you.

TTB NEWSLETTER | Weekly News

July 9, 2021

IN THIS ISSUE

Greetings! This week we’re highlighting some tips for making calorie, carb, and sugar content claims on alcohol beverage labels and in advertisements, the upcoming due date for quarterly filers, two offers in compromise accepted to resolve tax liabilities, an upcoming CODEX meeting where alcohol beverage labels will be discussed, and a system outage notice.

LABELING AND ADVERTISING STATEMENTS RELATED TO CALORIE, CARBOHYDRATE, AND SUGAR CONTENT

You may use truthful, accurate and specific calorie or carbohydrate statements on labels and in advertisements. However, we consider these declarations to be misleading (and thus prohibited) unless they include a statement that lists the number of calories and the number of grams of carbohydrates, protein, and fat contained in the product based on a single serving.

TTB guidance documents provide two different options: a “statement of average analysis” and a “Serving Facts statement.”

Some tips:

• If you want to say on your label or in your advertising that your product is low in carbohydrates, under TTB Ruling 2004-1, your product must contain no more than 7 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Also, as described in TTB Ruling 2013-2, the label or advertisement must contain either a statement of average analysis or a Serving Facts statement.
• TTB considers the use of terms such as “net carbohydrates” and “effective carbohydrates” on labels and in advertisements as misleading to consumers.
• If a serving of your alcohol beverage contains less than 0.5 grams of sugar, you may include a claim such as "Zero Sugar," "No Sugar," or "Sugar Free" on your label or in your advertisement. The label or advertisement must also include a statement of average analysis or a Serving Facts statement.

For more information, see our TTBGov - Alcohol Beverage Labeling: Statements Related to Calorie and Nutrient Content, Serving Facts, Alcohol Facts, and Sugar Content page, and explore the links on that page.

DUE DATE FOR QUARTERLY FILERS IS COMING SOON

If you are an alcohol industry member who files tax returns quarterly, the due date for Q2 (April 1 – June 30) is Wednesday, July 14.

Timely filing of your tax returns helps you avoid penalties and interest. Subscribe to receive automated email reminders so you don’t miss a due date.

Who is Eligible to File Quarterly?

TTB-regulated businesses that remove wine, distilled spirits, or beer from their premises subject to federal excise tax, may file quarterly excise tax returns if they:

• Reasonably expect to be liable for not more than $50,000 in excise taxes in the current calendar year; and
• Were liable for not more than $50,000 in excise taxes the previous year.

We recommend that you file TTB excise tax returns and make payments electronically using Pay.gov.

TWO TAX CASES RESOLVED BY OICS

We recently accepted offers in compromise (OICs) to resolve tax liabilities owed by two TTB-regulated businesses.

We accepted an offer of approximately $1.7 million from the Smith & Wesson Sales Company in Springfield, Massachusetts to resolve firearms excise tax liability related to certain promotional programs and price readjustments.

We also accepted an offer of $115,000 from ND Cigars, Inc., located in the Bronx, New York, to settle a number of tax violations, including manufacturing without a permit and failure to pay Special Occupational Tax.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE - MEETING OF THE CODEX COMMITTEE ON FOOD LABELLING

As per the Federal Register notice excerpted here, the agenda for this meeting includes, “Labelling of alcoholic beverages (discussion paper).”

SOURCE:  Federal Register | Vol. 86, No. 126 | Tuesday, July 6, 2021

AGENCY: U.S. Codex Office, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting and request for comments.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Codex Office is sponsoring a public meeting on September 1, 2021. The objective of the public meeting is to provide information and receive public comments on agenda items and draft United States (U.S.) positions to be discussed at the 46th Session of the Codex Committee on Food Labelling (CCFL) of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, to be held virtually, September 27–October 1, 2021 with the report adoption on October 7, 2021. The U.S. Manager for Codex Alimentarius and the Acting Deputy Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs recognize the importance of providing interested parties the opportunity to obtain background information on the 46th Session of the CCFL and to address items on the agenda.

DATES: The public meeting is scheduled for September 1, 2021, from 2:00–4:00 p.m. EDT

BACKGROUND: Codex was established in 1963 by two United Nations organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. Through adoption of food standards, codes of practice, and other guidelines developed by its committees, and by promoting their adoption and implementation by governments, Codex seeks to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.

SYSTEM OUTAGE

We will be conducting system maintenance this weekend.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.

Sign up to receive email alerts about upcoming outages.  Look under the “General Information” category.

TTB Newsletter Archives >>>

Please visit the homepage of TTB.gov for the most recent news, or visit the Contact Us page if you have any questions.