Wine drinkers in Arizona pay a higher excise tax rate than beer drinkers. The price for a bottle of wine often includes excise taxes — those are special taxes on specific goods like gasoline, tobacco and alcohol.
Unlike sales taxes, excise taxes typically do not show up on your receipt. Both the federal government and state government place excise taxes on alcohol.
The Tax Foundation ranks Arizona 26th for wine excise tax rates. Arizona charges 84 cents per gallon while, for beer, it’s 16 cents per gallon. States tend to tax wine at a higher rate than beer because of differences in alcohol content.
The states with the lowest wine excise taxes are California and Texas at 20 cents per gallon along with Wisconsin at 25 cents. Kentucky leads the states with the highest wine excise tax at $3.47 per gallon. Alaska has the second highest at $2.50 per gallon followed by Florida at $2.25.
The Federation of Tax Administrators, an organization representing principal tax collection agencies of all 50 states, compiled this 2018 list of state tax rates on wine.
