Under the Internal Revenue Code at 26
U.S.C. 5053, 5214, and 5362, distilled spirits, wine, and beer may
be exported without payment of Federal excise tax. In addition,
under the IRC at 26 U.S.C. 5055 and 5062, taxpaid distilled
spirits, wine, and beer may be exported and the exporter may claim
drawback (refund) on the excise taxes paid. To protect the revenue,
exporters must complete various TTB and customs forms to show that
the products were in fact exported. Under the TTB alcohol beverage
export regulations in 27 CFR part 28, proprietors and drawback
claimants are required to maintain record copies of all pertinent
forms and commercial records that document the exportation of
non-taxpaid alcohol beverages and the exportation of taxpaid
alcohol beverages for which drawback will be claimed, and such
records must be maintained for not less than 3 years.
There are no program changes
associated with this information collection. As for adjustments,
due to a change in agency estimates, TTB is increasing the number
of respondents, from 120 to 750. This is due to an overall increase
in the number of alcohol beverage producers, which has resulted in
an increase in the number of exporters of such products. However,
also due to a change in agency estimates, TTB is decreasing the
estimated per-response burden associated with this information
collection from 60 hours to 1 hour, and, as a result, is decreasing
the collection’s estimated annual burden from 7,200 hours to 750.
TTB believes the previous burden estimate was too great and likely
included the burden hours associated with the preparation of TTB
and Customs export forms and tax drawback claim forms, which are
covered under other information collections and OMB control
numbers. In addition, TTB notes that this information collection
consists of copies of export-related Government forms and attached
supporting commercial shipping, transportation, and export records
that respondents keep during the normal course of business,
regardless of any regulatory requirement to do so, many of which
are now kept in less-burdensome electronic formats. As such, TTB
believes that there is only a minimal burden associated with this
recordkeeping requirement. In addition, TTB notes that this
one-hour per response burden is similar to that reported and
approved for other TTB information collections that require the
keeping of copies of supporting records for information submitted
to the Bureau on various forms, such as that reported for OMB
Control Nos. 1513–0045, 1513–0088, 1513–0089, and 1513–0104.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.