Wine export charge

The wine export charge rates are shown in the table below:

The wine export charge is calculated as a percentage of the free on board (FOB) sales value. GST is not applied to Australian Government charges.

Example: If the FOB sales value is $75 000, the wine export charge payable is calculated by multiplying 75,000 by 0.2 percent which equals $150.00, the total charge payable.

The wine export approval process includes the following steps:

1. Licence to export – exporters must hold a licence before they can export wine in shipments that exceed 100 litres.

Please visit the ‘Licence to export’ webpage on the Wine Australia website for information about how you can obtain a licence to export.

2. Register your product – wine products must be registered with Wine Australia prior to export.

Please visit the ‘Forms and templates’ webpage on the Wine Australia website to access the product registration form.

3. Gain an export permit – exporters must lodge a shipping application for each consignment of wine leaving Australia that is in excess of 100 litres.

Please visit the ‘Forms and templates’ webpage on the Wine Australia website to access the shipping application form.

Please contact Wine Australia on 08 8228 2000 or by email at finance@wineaustralia.com for more information about exporting wine from Australia.

A licensed wine exporter is liable to pay the wine export charge. The person who arranges the export of the wine must lodge a return to Wine Australia and make a payment.

As an exporting agent of wine, you must lodge a return to Wine Australia and make a payment. You can recover the amount of charge paid to Wine Australia on behalf of the owner of the wine by offset or otherwise.

Relevant return information can be found in the Export Summary that Wine Australia will issue to licenced wine exporters.

Please visit the ‘Lodging a return’ webpage on Wine Australia’s website for more information about returns and payments.

The wine export charge is not payable on small quantities of wine.

1. Small quantities of wine means, wine that is:
   1. In labelled containers of not more than five (5) litres and is fitted with a non-reusable closing device
   2. Not more than 100 litres and is exported on one ship or aircraft to a single port of discharge whether or not to one consignee by one exporter or by two exporters that are taken to be one exporter
      1. Two or more exporters are taken to be one exporter if the exporters are related bodies corporate within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001, or individuals who are relatives, or individuals who are acting in concert with each other.
   3. Not more than 30 litres contained in the personal luggage of a traveller
   4. Not more than 30 litres that is sent from one person to another
   5. Part of household effects of a person who is moving house
   6. Not more than two (2) litres and fitted with a non-reusable closing device for a trade fair or event
   7. Not more than 100 litres that is exported to an agreement country for the purpose of scientific or technical purposes
   8. Duty-free wine
   9. For catering on international vehicles.

Please visit the ‘Lodging a return’ webpage on Wine Australia’s website for more information about returns and payments.

The wine export charge is based on a financial year.

Quarterly returns and payments

Quarterly returns and payments must be lodged with Wine Australia within 28 days of the end of the quarters of March, June, September and December.

Example: for the quarter ending 30 September—if you exported more than $1000 of wine in the months of July, August and September— your quarterly return and payment is due to Wine Australia on or before 28 October.

Please visit the ‘Key dates for Wine Export Charge returns’ webpage on Wine Australia’s website for more information about when you must lodge your return

Annual return and payment

As a wine export charge payer you may be eligible to lodge your return and make a payment to Wine Australia once a financial year, that is on or before 28 July in the next financial year.

Example: the 2016-17 financial year return and payment must be made on or before 28 July 2017.

To be eligible for an annual return and payment, you must have reasonable grounds to believe that the total amount of charge for the financial year would be less than $1000. You must also make an application to the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. If you would like to make an application to lodge your return annually, you will need to complete the Wine Australia annual wine export application form.

A wine exporter who has failed to lodge and pay their wine export charge return before the due date will incur a penalty that is calculated daily at a compounding rate of 2 per cent of the unpaid amount each month, including any penalties that have already accrued until the outstanding amount has been paid in full.

Wine Australia is not permitted to collect or remit late payment penalties.

Wine Australia will notify the department as soon as reasonably practicable when it becomes aware that a wine exporter has failed to lodge and pay their wine export charge return.

The department will notify you if you have incurred a late payment penalty and provide instructions for penalty payment. Late payment penalties must be paid to the department and not to Wine Australia.

You can request, in writing, that the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture remit all or part of the penalty. Information about late payment penalty remittance is available at: Late payment penalties.

IMPORTANT: It is your responsibility as a wine exporter to ensure that you lodge and pay your levy returns on or before their due date to Wine Australia.

As an exporter of wine, your return for a quarter or levy year must set out in respect of the quarter or levy year:

1. Your personal details, including:
   1. Full name
   2. Business or residential address, not the address of a post office box or post office bag
   3. Post office box or post office bag, and
   4. Australian Business Number (ABN), or if you are a company the Australian Company Number (ACN)
2. Period to which the return relates
3. Exporters licence number
4. Volume of wine (other than exempt wine) exported
5. FOB sales value in Australian dollars of that wine, and
6. Date when each consignment of wine was loaded for export.

As an exporter of wine, you must keep records for five (5) years setting out for each consignment of wine exported, the:

1. Full name and business or residential address, not the address of a post office box or post office bag, ABN, if any, or if the person is a company and does not have an ABN, its ACN, of the:
   1. Shipper
   2. If the owner of the wine at the time of the consignment was not the shipper, the owner, and
   3. Purchaser.
2. The exporters licence number
3. Volume of wine (except exempt wine) in the consignment
4. FOB sales value in Australian dollars of that wine, and
5. Date when the consignment was loaded for export.

The wine export charge is provided for under the:

Primary Industries (Customs) Charges Act 1999, and

Primary Industries Levies and Charges Collection Act 1991.