A Federal Tax that Returns 1000% on Your Money & Benefits Hunting & Shooting

A Federal Tax that Returns 1000% on Your Money & Benefits Hunting & Shooting – WTF
Excise Tax Programs: A Cycle of Success

Return On Investment Hunting Excise Tax

Southwick Associates

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fl --(Ammoland.com)- Imagine a business investment that routinely returns over 1,000 percent annually to your company.

No need to imagine. Sportfishing, hunting and shooting sports manufacturers have enjoyed such an investment for more than 60 years!

The investment is actually the excise tax-funded Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration programs. Every three months, manufacturers and importers of fishing, hunting and shooting-sports equipment write checks to the federal government. These excise-tax payments, 10-11 percent on most products, can be seen as an investment because federal law earmarks these dollars for maintaining and enhancing America’s fish and wildlife populations.

The result is abundant, sustainable wildlife and fish populations (non-game species also benefit as a result of improved habitat and other environmental enhancements)—and diverse hunting and fishing opportunities. Sportsmen and women respond to these opportunities by purchasing hunting, fishing and target shooting equipment manufactured or imported by the companies that pay the tax.

Between 1970 and 2006, hunting and shooting sports manufacturers saw a 1,000 percent annual return on their excise tax investments. Between 1955 and 2006, sport fishing manufacturers saw a 2,157 percent annual return on excise taxes paid.

The phenomenal restoration of America’s white-tailed deer and wild turkey populations are well-known examples of the specific “dividends” paid by these investments.

But the successes also extend into countless other national and local stories, such as:

By 1950, pollution and siltation had reduced or even eliminated fish in many waters that once were highly productive. Sport Fish Restoration investments turned many fisheries around and sparked a 200 percent increase in tackle sales (in constant dollars) since 1955.
In 1937, states on average allowed 30 days of waterfowl hunting. In 2010, 11 states provided 150 or more waterfowl hunting days, 23 states provided 120 days, and 13 states provided more than 90.
By the 1950s, the oily and inedible alewife littered the beaches of the Great Lakes and sport fishing was nearly nonexistent. Now, thanks in part to Sport Fish Restoration funds, world-class sport fisheries in the Great Lakes for salmon, trout, walleye, and yellow perch annually generate more than $2 billion in retail sales and support more than 58,000 jobs.
In 1937, Wyoming elk hunters had only limited local seasons. Today, 170 days of elk hunting are available for various specialty hunts. More than 53,000 hunters put in more than 412,000 hunter-days devoted to elk hunting, harvesting approximately 23,000 elk.

More details on these investments are outlined in reports prepared in part by Southwick Associates. The reports are available in “Project Links” at www.southwickassociates.com or by clicking on the following links:

Summary ROI Report Prepared for AFWA

Detailed technical reports:

Sportfish Restoration ROI Report
Wildlife Restoration ROI Report

About Southwick Associates (www.SouthwickAssociates.com):
Southwick Associates specializes in economic and business statistics related to fish and wildlife including measuring retail expenditures by anglers, hunters, wildlife viewers and other outdoor recreationists; quantifying the jobs, tax revenues and other economic impacts of outdoor recreation; tracking trends within outdoor industries; and analyzing the value of fish and wildlife resources and their uses. Participate in Southwick’s surveys at AnglerSurvey.com, HunterSurvey.com and ShooterSurvey.com.