TTB and DSP Compliance for Distilleries
Every distilled spirits plant answers to the TTB. This guide covers what a DSP owes: the operational reports, the excise tax return, the proof-gallon math underneath them, bond coverage, and the records that make an audit a review instead of a scramble. It is general information, not tax or legal advice.
In short: TTB compliance for a distilled spirits plant (DSP) means filing accurate operational reports (storage, production, processing), paying excise tax on spirits removed from bond, maintaining bond coverage, and keeping defensible records. Software keeps a DSP audit-ready by building these from day-to-day activity.
The reports a DSP owes
A DSP files monthly operational reports: storage (TTB F 5110.11), production (5110.40), and processing (5110.28). When they are built from the same recorded activity, they reconcile to each other and to physical inventory, instead of being reassembled by hand each month.
Excise tax and CBMA reduced rates
Federal excise tax is owed on spirits removed from bond. The CBMA reduced-rate tiers lower the rate on initial volume, but they apply cumulatively across the calendar year, so the marginal rate has to be tracked as volume grows. Getting the cumulative math wrong is a common and expensive mistake.
Proof gallons are the unit of truth
TTB quantities are proof gallons, not wine gallons. A proof gallon is one liquid gallon at 100 proof. Centralizing this conversion to a fixed precision everywhere keeps removals, losses, and on-hand quantities footing across every report.
Bond and the audit trail
Bond coverage is tracked against spirits in storage. Column-level change tracking across compliance-critical records captures who changed what and when, so when a question comes up the history answers it.
Explore this topic
TTB reporting software
Operational reports and excise, auto-built.
DSP compliance software
Audit-ready by default.
Excise tax, explained
What it is and when it is owed.
CBMA reduced rates
Cumulative tiers across the year.
Proof gallon
The TTB unit of measure.
Bonded warehouse
Storage under bond.
What is a DSP?
Distilled spirits plant basics.
Frequently asked
What TTB reports does a distillery have to file?
How do CBMA reduced excise rates work?
What is the difference between proof gallons and wine gallons?
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