McCullough, Michael

May, 2023

Beer Excise Taxes and the Craft Beverage and Modernization Tax Reform Act

By: Brester, Gary; McCullough, Michael; Atwood, Joseph; Austin, Caroline Graham
In December 2017, the Craft Beverage and Modernization Tax Reform Act (CBMTRA) lowered federal beer excise taxes for a period of 2 years, and the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Act of 2020 made the reduction permanent. We evaluate the ramifications of the CBMTRA on producers, consumers, and tax receipts and quantify potential differential effects among the micro, regional, and macro brewing sectors. Although the excise tax reduction was supposed to primarily support the micro brewing sector, we find that the CBMTRA provided a larger combined benefit to the regional and macro brewing sectors.
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December, 2011

Economic and Environmental Impacts of Washington State Biofuel Policy Alternatives

By: McCullough, Michael; Holland, David W.; Painter, Kathleen M.; Stodick, Leroy; Yoder, Jonathan K.
A computable general equilibrium model is used to analyze the effectiveness of policy alternatives at achieving biofuel-related goals in Washington State. Policy regimes compared include blend mandates, generally funded volumetric and CO2e (CO2 equivalent) emissions-based tax/subsidy regimes, and revenue-neutral funded tax/subsidy regimes that use fossil fuel taxes to fund renewable fuel subsidies. Results suggest that a revenue-neutral CO2e emissions-based tax/subsidy is arguably the most effective single alternative for pursuing the full set of objectives emphasized in recent Washington State legislation.
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