The Nation - News from Oct. 5, 1989

A bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee would give more than 100 years of amnesty to fraternal groups, taverns and convenience stores for past-due levies under a little-known tax on liquor retailers. Protests over the tax had mounted after a Pennsylvania Elks lodge got a $9,000 bill for 50 years of non-payment. The measure would prohibit the federal government from collecting unpaid balances and penalties on the 123-year-old tax if they accrued before Jan. 1, 1985, according to Sen. John Heinz (R-Pa.). Although the tax has been on the books since 1866, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms says that up to 40% of retailers had never heard of it until the agency began a vigorous collection effort last year.