Wine equalisation tax (WET) is a value-based tax which generally applies on the last wholesale sale of wine, usually between the wholesaler and the retailer. If you make wine or import wine for consumption in Australia, or if you sell it wholesale, you normally have to pay WET.
WET applies at 29% of the value of the wine at the last wholesale sale, before adding goods and services tax (GST).
For the purposes of WET, wine includes:
grape wine, including sparkling wine and fortified wine
grape wine products such as marsala and vermouth
other fruit and vegetable wines, including fortified fruit and vegetable wines
cider and perry
mead and sake.
If you report and pay GST using a pre-printed instalment amount (option 3 on the activity statement), don’t complete the WET section of your activity statement because we have included your WET in this amount. You will still need to report WET payable (1C) and WET refundable (1D) when lodging your Annual GST return. This is due at the same time as your income tax return.
If you report and pay GST annually, you don’t have to report WET on monthly or quarterly activity statements. You will need to report WET on your Annual GST return.