Tax Code’s Home Distilling Ban Is Lawful, Appeals Court Says (1)

An almost 160-year old federal ban on home distilling is an allowable use of congressional taxing power, the Sixth Circuit said Tuesday in a ruling that established a circuit split on the issue.

Banning home distilleries is a “necessary and proper” way to collect federal excise taxes on alcohol, the court ruled, finding that the ban isn’t expressly prohibited by the Constitution, doesn’t regulate conduct indirectly, and doesn’t circumvent Congress’s power.

Judge Raymond Kethledge for the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed the lower court’s finding that John Ream lacked standing to sue because he hadn’t yet ...