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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.
Summary
The KOMBUCHA Act would exempt low alcohol by volume kombucha from federal excise taxes and related regulations currently applied to alcoholic beverages. The bill defines qualifying kombucha as beverages fermented by a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast containing no more than 1.25 percent alcohol by volume, made from fermentable sugars and plant materials such as tea or coffee, and marketed as kombucha. The exemption would remove kombucha from taxation as wine or beer and from related federal regulations governing those beverages. The exemptions would apply beginning with calendar quarters after the bill's enactment.
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)
- Sen. Wyden, Ron [D-OR] (D-OR)
Actions (2)
- Apr 30, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. · senate
- Apr 30, 2026 Introduced in Senate
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.
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 30, 2026
Mr. Wyden introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance
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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