Sportfishing Industry Opposes Revisions of Manufacturer's Excise
Tax
by
Mary Jane Williamson
March 10, 2005—ALEXANDRIA, VA—The sportfishing
industry strongly opposes proposed recommendations concerning revision
of the manufacturers' excise tax on fishing tackle. According to the
American Sportfishing Association, along with the American Fly Fishing
Trade Association, the recommendations, as written, are not supported
by the sportfishing industry and are viewed as jeopardizing the future
funding of fishery conservation in the United States.
On January 27, 2005, the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation released
a 424 page report entitled: Options
to Improve Tax Compliance and Reform Tax Expenditure. In the report,
the staff recommends eliminating the excise tax on fishing equipment
except for the manufacturers’ excise tax on “rod, poles
and reels” and recommended increasing that excise tax from the
current 10 percent to 21 percent.
“Under the current law, not only are almost all tackle items
taxed, but many items are purchased prior to each fishing trip,”
said Mike Nussman, ASA's president & CEO. “By more than doubling
the excise tax on rods and reels, the increased cost will almost certainly
drive anglers from the sport and dramatically damage not just the fishing
tackle industry, but the fishery resources which the excise tax is intended
to benefit.”
The sportfishing industry has always supported the Sport Fish Restoration
Act, passed into law in 1950. This Act uses the manufacturers’
excise tax as a means of investing in the fishery resource and angler
access at the state level. It has been proven that abundant, accessible
and well managed fisheries provide a reason for anglers to fish and
purchase fishing equipment – more fish, better business. Currently,
excise tax collections on fishing equipment account for approximately
$100 million annually.
“This report is definitely not an investment in the future of
sportfishing and is unequivocally biased against the industries that
pay the taxes that create the revenue,” said Jim Range, the Washington,
D.C. representative for the American Fly Fishing Trade Association.
The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry's trade association, uniting more than 600 members of the sportfishing and boating industries with state fish and wildlife agencies, federal land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler advocacy groups and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing Association safeguards and promotes the enduring social, economic and conservation values of sportfishing.
