Rev. Ruling 56-351

Liquor Dealer Records

Revenue Ruling 56-95, page 59, holds that entries relative to items other than distilled spirits may be made on prescribed records of receipts and dispositions of wholesale liquor dealers, provided the additional information does not materially interfere with the intended purpose of the records. An example of such information materially interfering with the intended purpose given in that Revenue Ruling is the instance of such additional information predominating. The ruling also contains the proviso that entries with respect to distilled spirits must not be excluded from any sheet of the record. Since publication of the ruling, it has been found that where entries of the receipt and disposition of beer, wine, and other related items are kept in the same record as distilled spirits a complete sheet of the record is often taken up with such additional items only and that separate record keeping of distilled spirits would result in hardships upon the wholesale dealers. In view of these conditions, it is now held that wholesalers may include in their prenumbered records of receipt and disposition wine, beer, and related items normally dealt in by them, regardless of whether such items predominate or occasionally exclude distilled spirits from any sheet of the record, provided the additional information does not materially interfere with the intended purpose of the record as may be determined in any case by the Assistant Regional Commissioner, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax.

Revenue Ruling 56-95, supra, is hereby modified accordingly.

26 U.S.C. 5114; 27 CFR 194.216 (27 CFR 194.225)