- An excise tax of 10% to 11% on most fishing, hunting, and shooting-sports equipment products is dedicated to the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration programs, which are used for the maintenance and enhancement of America’s fish and wildlife populations. Abundant, sustainable fish and wildlife populations yield abundant and diverse hunting and fishing opportunities. Hunters and anglers respond to those opportunities by purchasing more hunting, fishing, and target shooting equipment.
- This tax shows how investing in conservation and rehabilitation projects that benefit game species, as well as nongame species, brings significant economic returns.
- Between 1970 and 2006, excise-tax collections for Wildlife Restoration averaged $251 million per year. Over the same period, hunters and shooters purchased an average of $3.1 billion (wholesale value) in tax-related items per year (all figures are given in 2009 dollars).
- Excise-tax collections and import duties on fishing equipment averaged $110 million annually between 1955 and 2006. During the same period, wholesale purchases of taxable fishing equipment averaged $2.3 billion per year.
Written on behalf of the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies
