So far this year three additional states—Arkansas, Mississippi, and most recently Delaware—have approved the issuance of licenses allowing DTC wine sales. Here is a brief overview of these new licenses: Arkansas The new Arkansas Wine Direct Shipping Permit went into effect on August 5, 2025. Older AR Wine Shipping Permits were automatically converted to the new permit type on that date without requiring any application or additional fees. Registration of labels to be shipped DTC is required via Product Registration Online (PRO) before shipping can commence under the new permit. Any labels that are registered for sales at wholesale in AR are considered also registered for DTC. However, at the time of this posting, the PRO system does not allow DTC-only product registrations to be completed. We are monitoring the status and will post an update once DTC label registrations can be successfully submitted. Mississippi The MS Alcoholic Beverage Control is now issuing the new Direc

The Mississippi ABC is now accepting applications for its new Direct Wine Shipper’s Permit. In addition to the requirements listed in our earlier post, applicants must also register for a use tax account with the MS Department of Revenue before applying for the DTC permit. Both applications are submitted online in MS TAP. The process does not require registration with the MS Secretary of State, nor submission of a tax bond. However, companies located outside of Mississippi that derive income from Mississippi may be subject to income or franchise taxes, even if they are not registered with the MS Secretary of State. We recommend that wineries considering this permit consult their tax advisor. The MS ABC has clarified what products may legally be shipped directly to MS consumers under the Direct Wine Shipper’s Permit. Products distributed through the MS control system as “bailment items” (regularly listed products owned by suppliers and stored in the ABC war

Mississippi, which has been one of the last holdouts on DTC shipping, has finally joined the other states that allow wineries to ship directly to their residents. On February 27, Mississippi's governor signed a bill creating a direct wine shipper's permit for wineries to ship their wine to Mississippi residents. The law goes into effect July 1, 2025, however, the MS Department of Revenue must still create a process and licensing forms and may also engage in rulemaking for the new permit. Here are some of the highlights from the bill that was passed: Only wineries qualify for this permit Wines offered for sale through Mississippi distributors, brokers, and solicitors in the state may not be shipped DTC unless designated as “highly allocated” (which the state has yet to define) Wineries may only ship twelve (12) nine (9) liter cases of wine annually to any one address Fulfillment providers and common carriers must also be licensed to ship on behalf of wineries The li

Are compliance checks done in real time? Compliance checks must happen in real time to ensure a smooth transaction for the customer, and to provide a safety net for yourself. This begins with precise age verification. It's essential to confirm that only adults of legal drinking age (LDA) can make purchases online. Subsequently, compliance extends to accurately calculating and applying the appropriate tax rates, taking into account the location of the sale and the destination of the order.  Are the compliance rules automatically setup?  Producers should not have to worry about managing their own set of tax rates, shipping limits, and pre-purchase age verification as this easily leads to mistakes. Compliance solutions should have a built-in tax rate table, working on 9-digit zip codes, so you feel confident all taxes are correct.  Can states rules be manually bypassed? This should be a no brainer, if states rules can be bypassed, you should question how compliant you

Afternoon Brief, February 7th

Prohibition Era Over? State House Passes Bill to Legalize Sale of Liquor, Wine in Small Towns: The House passed a bill that would no longer prohibit Mississippi’s small towns from selling liquor and wine — a Prohibition-era carryover still enforced for municipalities in many “dry” counties...

Joint Venture’s Data Analytics Lab is Rapidly Evolving the Wholesalers’ Digital Experiences for their Salesforce, Suppliers and Customers Grand Prairie, TX, and San Jose, CA, December 18, 2020 — Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC) and LibDib, today unveiled a joint data analytics lab that is developing AI (artificial intelligence) algorithms for the two distributors’ wholesale digital commerce experience. The joint effort has begun fueling insight, automation and artificial intelligence into both the LibDib and eRNDC digital commerce platforms to benefit customers, suppliers and the RNDC salesforce. The new lab is an extension of the joint digital platform work the two companies have developed as they continue to revolutionize the way advanced analytics and AI are used in beverage alcohol. The announcement formalizes the two companies’ investment and resource commitments to take AI technology to the next level.  “RNDC and LibDi