Wine equalisation tax - how to complete your activity statement

You can download these instructions in Portable Document Format (PDF): download Wine equalisation tax - how to complete your activity statement (NAT 7390, PDF 557 KB).

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.

Self-assessment for indirect taxes commenced on 1 July 2012. When you lodge an activity statement for tax periods that commence on or after that date, you will still need to include the amounts of indirect tax payable and any credits that make up your net amount. The Commissioner is taken to have made an assessment based on that net amount on the day you lodge the activity statement. Your activity statement is treated as being a notice of assessment signed by the Commissioner and issued on the day it is given to us. For more information about self-assessment refer to Self assessment for indirect taxes - overview.