Tax Code’s Home Distilling Ban Is Unconstitutional, Judge Rules

Violating ban risks prison time, $10,000 fine

Court says case doesn’t touch other distillery tax provisions

A prohibition on operating home distilleries falls outside the federal government’s tax authority under the US Constitution, a federal judge in Texas ruled in a victory for an association of hobby spiritmakers.

Judge Mark T. Pittman of the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas sided with arguments brought against the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the agency that enforces the home distilling ban. Pittman held that the Constitution gives Congress broad power to tax, but does not allow it to directly regulate through tax policy.

“The Court concludes that neither Congress’s enumerated taxing power nor …

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