(1) The additional beer taxes imposed under RCW 66.24.290 (3)(a) do not apply to the first sixty thousand barrels of beer sold by a brewery in Washington each fiscal year, if:

(a) The beer is produced in the United States; and

(b) The producing brewery or domestic brewery-brand owner meets the qualifications of 26 U.S.C. Sec. 5051 (a)(2).

(2) In order to qualify for this exemption, the Washington brewer or the out-of-state beer certificate of approval holder must provide the board a copy of an Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) acknowledged copy of their filing "Notice of Brewer to Pay Reduced Rate of Tax" for the calendar year as required under 27 C.F.R. Sec. 25.167; a variance for any year that waives annual submission to the TTB; or the Brewer's Notice which waives annual submission to the TTB.

(3) The tax exemption will not apply until the first day of the second month following the month the notice is received (for example, if the notice is received by the Board on January 10, the tax exemption will start on March 1).

(4) How will the distributor know what tax rate to pay for each brewery's products?

(a) The board will provide distributors a list of breweries that qualify for the reduced tax rate; and

(b) The qualifying brewery is responsible to inform the distributors when product sold to distributors exceeds the first sixty thousand barrels exempted from the additional tax.

(c) Once a qualifying brewery's sales to distributors exceeds sixty thousand barrels, the distributors must begin paying the full tax rate on their next monthly tax report.

(5) Per RCW 66.24.290, authorized representative certificate of approval holders do not qualify for the reduced rate in Washington state.

(6) The tax exemption will not apply to strong beer. Strong beer must be paid at the higher rate even when the brewery meets the qualifications for the reduced rate. Strong beer is any malt beverage that contains more than eight percent alcohol by weight.