Wine Equalisation Tax
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Wine equalisation tax (WET) is a tax imposed on wine made, imported, or sold by wholesale in
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It is applied at 29% of the wholesale value of wine.


Background

In Australia, wine is taxed differently to other alcoholic beverages. While other beverages are taxed based on their alcohol content, wine is taxed at a flat 29% rate, which, on a per standard drink basis, generally makes tax on wine less than other alcoholic beverages.


Rebates

A number of rebates are available to wine producers based in Australia and New Zealand, with eligible produces originally able to claim up to $A350,000 annually. These rebates were introduced in 2004 and intended to assist small rural wineries. They were estimated to cost the Australian Federal Budget $A300 million in 2016.


Allegations of rorting

Following allegations of rorting, then Assistant Treasurer
Josh Frydenberg Joshua Anthony Frydenberg (; born 17 July 1971) is an Australian former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia and deputy leader of the Liberal Party from 2018 to 2022. He also served as a member of parliament (MP) for the divisi ...
announced in 2015 the establishment of a consultation group consisting of industry representatives to find solutions to the use of "contrived schemes" designed to exploit the rebate.


Reforms

In August 2017 reforms passed the
Parliament of Australia The Parliament of Australia (officially the Parliament of the Commonwealth and also known as the Federal Parliament) is the federal legislature of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Monarchy of Australia, monarch of Australia (repr ...
which reduced the annual rebate available to $A350,000 and changed eligibility to require wine producers to grow at least 85% of the grapes used in their wine-making process.


See also

*
Australian wine The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...


References

{{reflist Australian wine Taxation in Australia Value added taxes