Albany – Senator Ken LaValle, (R-Port Jefferson) and Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. (I, D, WF-Sag Harbor) announced that the Senate and Assembly have approved their legislation (S.4668/A.6724) that exempts non-farm wineries who produce less than 150,000 gallons annually from filing annual information returns regarding their transactions with sales tax vendors.

Under state law, all beer, wine, and liquor wholesalers are required to report sales made to restaurants, bars and other retailers to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Farm wineries and craft breweries were included within the definition of a wholesaler required to report such information until Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Thiele passed legislation in 2012 (Chapter 107 of the Laws of 2012) to exclude them.

This bill would now exempt non-farm wineries from this costly and burdensome paperwork requirement. Because of their restricted size, producing less than 150,000 gallons annually, it is difficult for many non-farm wineries to absorb the cost of complying with the annual filing requirement.

Senator LaValle said, “It’s critical that we continue to support Long Island wineries. They are important members of our community, essential to the economy and are fundamental in maintaining the character of the East End. Lessening state administrative burdens placed upon smaller operations will enable them to continue to produce the wines that we all enjoy, and grow their businesses.”

Thiele, Chair of the Assembly’s Small Business Committee stated, “Non-farm wineries are small operations that have struggled to comply with this needless filing requirement. Our wineries can better use their time to growth their businesses and promote their product rather than filling out costly paperwork.”

Steven Bate, the Executive Director of the Long Island Wine Council "We're thrilled at the news that this bill has passed. This is something we've been hoping for since the same treatment was accorded to farm wineries in 2012. As always, we're very grateful to Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Thiele for their strong support of our industry."

Since the Senate and the Assembly have both approved the legislation, it will be transmitted to the Governor for consideration.