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A Tennessee wine-only consumption-on-premises licensee files a liquor-by-the-drink tax bond with the Department of Revenue. As of July 1, 2024, the initial amount is $10,000 — the same floor as a full license. Ours is $100 flat, set by our carrier's rate book.
















Liquor-by-the-drink tax bonds are simple. Here's the entire process:
Business details and an effective date.
Fixed-amount tax bonds like this often issue right after purchase.
Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file on the Department’s tax bond form with your liquor-by-the-drink account. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
Tennessee charges a liquor-by-the-drink tax on alcoholic beverages sold for consumption on the premises, and the Department of Revenue requires each on-premises licensee to post a tax bond securing that tax. A wine-only license — one that authorizes wine but not full liquor service — carries the same bond requirement.
Effective July 1, 2024, the law set a $10,000 minimum for these tax bonds, and that floor now applies to wine-only licensees too. (Before that date, the wine-only initial bond was $2,000.) The bond amount can be set higher — generally around three times the average monthly tax liability — for higher-volume accounts.
The bond is for the benefit of the state. If you fail to remit the liquor-by-the-drink tax you collect, the Department can recover against the bond — and if the surety pays, you repay the surety. We issue the $10,000 bond at $100 flat.
$100 flat, no credit review, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.