Wine equalisation tax - producer rebate for New Zealand wine producers

Do you need to notify an Australian wine purchaser of your rebate entitlement?

From 10 December 2012, the WET legislation introduces a voluntary notification system. If you are entitled to claim the producer rebate for wine that you export for sale in Australia, you may notify the purchaser in Australia of your rebate entitlement in the approved form.

The notification must contain all of the following:

• your name, address and your company number (if applicable)
• the name and Australian business number of the wine recipient
• a description of the wine being supplied (including the quantity and price)
• the date that the wine was supplied
• sufficient information to identify the relevant tax invoice - for example, the tax invoice number.

It must also contain one of the following:

• notification that the producer of the wine that is being supplied to the recipient is entitled to a producer rebate for the wine (and the amount of the rebate to which the producer is entitled), or
• notification that the producer of the wine that is being supplied to the recipient is not entitled to claim a producer rebate for the wine.

You can provide notification in any of the following ways:

• information added to a tax invoice
• an email
• a letter.

Although you are not entitled to claim the producer rebate for a dealing until after the end of the financial year in which the dealing was made and WET was paid, for the purposes of notifying a purchaser, you are deemed to be entitled to the producer rebate before this time.

If you notify a purchaser of your rebate entitlement prior to being able to make your rebate claim, and the approved selling price is not expressed in Australian currency, you should work out the approved selling price on the basis of the official Reserve Bank of Australia rate on the earlier of:

• the day you receive any payment for the supply of wine; or
• the invoice date.

If you are unsure whether you are considered to be an associated producer, contact NZIR on 0800 377 774.