Here’s a timely reminder about the new California recycling requirements going into effect January 1, 2024. Registration with CalRecycle. If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to register with CalRecycle as a beverage manufacturer and/or beverage distributor, and make any changes to your POS and accounting systems needed to keep track of the fees that are your responsibility (described below). You also need to make sure that your POS system calculates the CA sales tax on the total retail price of wine sold, including the CRV fee. CRV fees. If you sell wine or spirits to California consumers and/or retailers, you are considered a “beverage distributor” under CA’s recycling law. Beginning January 1 you must collect CRV fees on all bottle sales to California customers. CRV fees are $0.05/container for containers under 24 fluid ounces, $0.10/container for containers 24 fluid ounces or more, and $0.25 for bladders and boxes of any size. You will re

In the highly regulated beverage alcohol industry, compliance is an indispensable part of suppliers’ cost of doing business. It doesn’t pay to ignore it, but how do you pay for it? Savvy industry members turn to The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law to keep legal compliance high while keeping its costs low. The Digest saves money  The Digest is the most cost-effective compliance help money can buy. The Digest gives your company an up-to-date and easy-to-use regulatory reference that’s available to you 24/7 for less than $100/ month. Companies with more than one user qualify for the multi-user discount. The Digest saves time  The Digest saves the time and energy normally needed to stay up-to-date with changes to the laws and regulations affecting our industry. You can check the Recent Updates list when you log in, or opt to receive periodic emails with a list and summary of the latest updates. The Digest saves legal fees Save research time and legal fees usin

When you subscribe to the Digest of Wine & Spirits Law, how quickly can you start finding the information you need, from its extensive database? Virtually right away! The Digest’s new tutorial videos show you how to navigate and use the Digest website to most efficiently get the answers you need, now. The tutorial videos cover the major topics found in the Digest, how to access them, and how to make the most of your subscription to this essential reference. When legal compliance is in question and decisions are pressing, you don’t have time to do your research from scratch. Contact The Digest of Wine & Spirits Law today and find out how we can take the headache out of wading through the vast ocean of laws and regulations governing the alcohol beverage industry. For a demonstration of The Digest, view the video, or contact us to schedule a live screen-share demo. Visit our website or give us a call: 800-400-1353.

Colorado has made some very welcome amendments to its “Retail Delivery Fee” (RDF) that promise to make things easier for wineries shipping their wines to Colorado consumers.  Since the fee went into effect in July last year, Colorado has received a great deal of pushback from remote sellers in many industries because of the difficulty and cost of revising POS systems to comply with this new requirement. As originally enacted, the fee was required to be separately itemized on invoices and collected directly from the customer. To further complicate matters, some cities decided to charge sales tax on the RDF.  Colorado heard the complaints and passed a new law, effective July 1, 2023, that will make things easier for out-of-state wineries selling direct to Colorado consumers. The sales threshold will be raised from $100,000 to $500,000 before a winery would be required to collect the RDF. In addition, the RDF will not need to be collected from the customer or shown s

Have you ever spent days or even weeks trying to get information about licensing, label registration or ownership changes from state regulatory agencies? At the Digest of Wine & Spirits Law we understand how frustrating it can be when you have questions, but the people with the answers aren’t available. Cut your research time down to a fraction. The Digest’s website is always available giving you quick access to the answers you need to your compliance questions. Subscribe today and change that frustration of not knowing into the satisfaction of having the right answers, right away. For a demonstration of The Digest, view the video, or contact us to schedule a live screen-share demo. Visit our website or give us a call: 800-400-1353.

The Digest of Wine and Spirits Law is the essential compliance reference trusted by industry professionals to keep up with the frequent changes to laws and regulations affecting beverage alcohol. The Digest website’s topical organization and powerful features allow subscribers to quickly find relevant information, and stay in-the-know as changes are made. The information in the State Digests can be accessed easily by selecting the state and topic you’re interested in, or by selecting multiple states and multiple topics. The Digest also features a Federal Digest section which includes code sections relevant to the labeling and marketing of beverage alcohol, quoted directly from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Additionally, the Digest site provides a handy list of recent updates. When subscribers are logged in, this list has live links allowing one-click access to updated topics. When a topic has been updated, subscribers can simply click on the date next to the artic

The Digest of Wine and Spirits Law team is constantly looking for ways to improve this indispensable reference for wine and spirits professionals. 2022 brought a number of significant changes to federal regulations, and TTB says more are on the way. So, we are happy to announce the expansion of the convenient “compare” feature to the federal digest area. The compare feature already allows subscribers to see what text has been eliminated, and what provisions have been added in each updated state digest. Now the compare feature is also available in the federal digest area, allowing subscribers to see what’s been added or changed. In addition, federal updates have been added to the Recent Updates list on the Digest home page. What does that mean to you? Simply put, subscribers are alerted whenever TTB changes the regulations governing the sale and advertising of wine and spirits, and they can quickly and easily see exactly what's changed. One more great reason to re

RTD cocktails have captured American consumers, with the last two years posting nearly 100% growth among leading brands in this niche category. Many states are drafting and revising laws to adjust to this recent popularity. At The Digest of Wine and Spirits Law we have an ongoing commitment to keep you aware of legal updates that may affect your RTD strategies, including changes in excise tax rates, labeling and advertising regulations, as well as where your products can be sold in the various states. For example, 16 states prohibit the distribution of spirits based RTD cocktails in grocery stores and standard retail channels, while allowing non-spirits based RTD products of comparable or equal ABV% to be sold through multiple retail outlets. Before you commit your production, marketing, and logistics resources to this hot sector of the market, check the Digest for the information and resources you need to make your best business decisions. For a demonstration of The Digest, view the