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HR 8631
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KOMBUCHA

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that low alcohol by volume kombucha is exempt from any excise taxes and any regulations under chapter 53 of such Code which are imposed on alcoholic beverages.

Introduced Apr 30, 2026

Latest action (Apr 30, 2026) Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Referred to
Ways and Means Committee
Policy area
Taxation
Issues
Economy & Taxes

Summary
  • Exempts low alcohol by volume kombucha from federal excise taxes and regulations applied to wine.
  • Exempts low alcohol by volume kombucha from federal excise taxes and regulations applied to beer.
  • Defines low alcohol by volume kombucha as a beverage fermented solely by bacteria and yeast with not more than 1.25 percent alcohol by volume.
  • Specifies that kombucha must be derived from fermentable sugars and plant materials including tea and coffee.
  • Removes regulatory requirements for low alcohol kombucha under federal wine and beer regulations.
  • Effective for calendar quarters beginning after the date of enactment of the law.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)
1 cosponsor

Money behind the sponsor

Top reported contributors to Andrea Salinas’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.

  • Employer not reported $30,121
  • STATE OF OREGON $15,165
  • THE ADVOCATE GROUP $11,600
  • ARIES ENGINEERING INC OREGON $9,900
  • KAFOURY & MCDOUGAL $9,900

Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Andrea Salinas → · Outside spending →

Actions (2)
  1. Apr 30, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. · house
  2. Apr 30, 2026 Introduced in House

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

  • S 4457 — KOMBUCHA · Introduced Apr 30, 2026 · Cong. 119 93%
  • HR 4613 — Bubble Tax Modernization Act of 2025 · Introduced Jul 22, 2025 · Cong. 119 50%
  • HR 9407 — SPIRIT Act · Introduced Jun 23, 2026 · Cong. 119 43%
  • S 2681 — Lowering Electric Bills Act · Introduced Aug 2, 2025 · Cong. 119 43%
  • S 2530 — CREATE Act · Introduced Jul 30, 2025 · Cong. 119 43%
  • HR 1346 — To amend the Clean Air Act with respect to the ethanol waiver for Reid Vapor Pressure under that Act, and for other purposes. · Passed House May 14, 2026 · Cong. 119 41%

Text versions (1)
  • Introduced in House · Apr 30, 2026

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

April 30, 2026

Ms. Salinas (for herself and Mr. Smith of Nebraska) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that low alcohol by volume kombucha is exempt from any excise taxes and any regulations under chapter 53 of such Code which are imposed on alcoholic beverages.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Keeping Our Manufacturers from Being Unfairly taxed while Championing Health Act” or “KOMBUCHA”.

SEC. 2. TAX-FREE PRODUCTION OF LOW ALCOHOL BY VOLUME KOMBUCHA.

(a) Exemption From Tax on Wine.—Section 5042(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following:

“(4) Low alcohol by volume kombucha.—

“(A) In general.—Subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary, low alcohol by volume kombucha shall not be subject to—

“(i) tax as wine, or

“(ii) the provisions of subchapter F.

“(B) Definition.—For purposes of this chapter, the term ‘low alcohol by volume kombucha’ means a beverage which—

“(i) is fermented solely by a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast,

“(ii) contains not more than 1.25 percent of alcohol by volume,

“(iii) is sold or offered for sale as kombucha, and

“(iv) is derived from—

“(I) fermentable sugars, including sugar, malt or malt substitute, honey, and fruit juice, and

“(II) plant materials, including tea and coffee.”.

(b) Exemption From Tax on Beer.—Section 5053 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended—

(1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection (j), and

(2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new subsection:

“(i) Production of Low Alcohol by Volume Kombucha.—Subject to regulations prescribed by the Secretary, low alcohol by volume kombucha (as defined in section 5042(a)(4)(B)) shall not be subject to—

“(1) tax as beer, or

“(2) the provisions of subchapter G.”.

(c) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply to calendar quarters beginning after the date of enactment of this Act. <all>

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