Rep. Ron Kind (D-WI), co-chairman of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, has introduced legislation (HR 6310) seeking to rectify a longstanding inequity in the collection of the firearms and ammunition excise tax (FAET) — a major source of wildlife conservation funding.
HR 6310 will allow the firearms and ammunition industry to pay the FAET on a quarterly basis, the same payment schedule as every other industry that supports conservation.
Currently firearms and ammunition manufacturers must pay the FAET bi-weekly. This payment schedule forces many manufacturers to borrow money to ensure on-time payment, and industry members spend thousands of man-hours administering the necessary paperwork to successfully complete the bi-weekly payments — monies that are due long before manufacturers are paid by their customers.
This legislation will not lower the amount of conservation dollars collected by the tax.
“Shifting to quarterly payments would allow manufacturers to invest in new equipment and product designs and enhance their marketing efforts,” said Steve Sanetti, president of the NSSF. “This in turn could lead to greater participation in hunting and the shooting sports, something that would benefit everyone.”
According to the most recent federal excise tax collection report, during the last quarter, $74.8 million was generated for conservation, compared to $67.4 million in the same period in 2006. In 2007, the firearms and ammunition industry contributed a total of $303.2 million in excise taxes, up 21.2 percent from the $250.1 million in 2006.
Manufacturers have since 1991 contributed more than $3 billion dollars to fund wildlife conservation through the payment of the federal excise tax. Since the inception of the excise tax in 1937, more than $5 billion dollars has been collected.
