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The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, shortened to Tax and Trade Bureau or TTB, is a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury. On January 24, 2003, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (the Act) split functions of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), into two new organizations with separate functions. First, the Act established The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) under the Department of the Treasury. Second, the Act transferred certain law enforcement functions from Treasury to the Department of Justice. The ATF was transferred to the Justice Department and was renamed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
TTB's Field Operations are organized into five divisions:[1]
- National Revenue Center: reconciles returns, reports, and claims; screens applications and promptly issues permits; and provides expert technical assistance for industry, the public and government agencies to ensure fair and proper revenue collection and public safety.[2]
- Risk Management: develops, implements, and maintains monitoring programs for collecting the revenue due the Federal Government and protecting the public, and ensures resources are effectively used.[3]
- Tax Audit: verifies the proper payment of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and ammunition excise taxes and ensures compliance with laws and regulations by taxpayers in a manner that protects the revenue, protects the consumer, and promotes voluntary compliance.[4]
- Trade Investigations: comprises investigators who ensure industry compliance with the laws and regulations administered by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). TID's investigators: --Ensure only qualified applicants are granted permits to engage in the production and distribution of alcohol and tobacco; --Investigate allegations of trade practice violations in the marketplace; --Examine Certificates of Label Approvals (COLAs) to deter unauthorized usage; --Promote voluntary compliance with the laws and regulations enforced by TTB; --Prevent misleading labeling and advertising of alcohol beverages; --Ensure public safety by responding to credible information suggesting a health-related contamination or adulteration of an alcohol product; and --Conduct investigations of suspected alcohol or tobacco tax evasion.[5]
- Tobacco Enforcement Division: protects the revenue and promotes voluntary compliance by monitoring the domestic tobacco trade, ensuring only qualified applicants enter the tobacco trade, ensuring compliance with the tax laws relating to tobacco, and facilitating TTB's enforcement functions in cases of non-compliance.[6]
Also, the Advertising, Labeling, and Formulation Division (ALFD) implements and enforces a broad range of statutory and compliance provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (the Act). The Act requires importers and bottlers of beverage alcohol to obtain certificates of label approval or certificates of exemption from label approval (COLAs) for most alcohol beverages prior to their introduction into interstate commerce. ALFD acts on these COLAs to ensure that products are labeled in accordance with Federal laws and regulations. ALFD also examines formulas for wine and distilled spirits, statements of process, and pre-import applications filed by importers and proprietors of domestic distilled spirits plants, wineries, and breweries for proper tax classification and to ensure that the products are manufactured in accordance with Federal laws and regulations.[7]
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