Contact us about excise

You can use our dedicated channels to contact us if your business:

manufactures, produces or stores excisable goods (alcohol, fuel and petroleum products, or tobacco) in Australia
deals in imported excise equivalent goods (EEGs).

Excisable alcohol, fuel or petroleum products

There are a range of ways you can contact us:

Secure mail through online services
Phone
Email
Write
Tax agents
Consultative forums

Secure mail through online services

You can send a secure mail message to us using Online services for business. After logging in:

go to the Communication tab then Secure Mail
create a New message
select View more topics from the Topic list
select Excise from the Other topics list
select Alcohol, fuel and petroleum products, tobacco, duty free store from the Subject list
prepare your message, complete the declaration, and send.

Phone

You can phone us on 1300 137 290 between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday

Email

You can email us at:

Alcohol@ato.gov.au
Petroleum@ato.gov.au (for all fuel-related matters)
Tobacco@ato.gov.au

Be aware that the internet isn’t a secure environment. We don’t control the path of inbound and outbound emails, so we can’t guarantee the privacy of personal information sent by email. You should be aware of this risk if you choose to communicate with us by email and include your personal details.

Write

Write to us at

Australian Taxation Office
PO Box 3514
ALBURY NSW 2640

Tax agents

Tax agents can use practice mail to contact us using Online services for agents. After logging in:

go to the Communication tab then Practice Mail
create a New message
select View more topics from the Topic list
select Excise from the Other topics list
select Alcohol enquiry, Duty free store enquiry, Petroleum enquiry or Tobacco enquiry from the Subject list
select I am enquiring on behalf of client from Enquiry type
search for and select your client
prepare your message, complete the declaration, and send.

Consultative forums

We have consultative forums for representatives of the alcohol and petroleum industries:

For more information on excise topics, see:

Excise equivalent goods

Who to contact

If you deal in excise equivalent goods (EEGs) and other customable goods (goods subject to customs duty), you may need to contact both the:

ATO (us)
Department of Home Affairs, including their operational arm the Australian Border Force.

We refer to:

customable goods that are not EEGs as 'non-EEGs'
the Department of Home Affairs' Integrated Cargo System as 'ICS'.

Which agency to contact for EEGs and non-EEGs matters
Type of interaction	General warehouse operator (Stores EEGs, may also store non-EEGs)	Private warehouse operator (Imports and stores own EEGs, and possibly non-EEGs)	Importer or owner (Imports EEGs, and possibly non-EEGs, and stores them in a general warehouse)
Licensing – apply, amend, renew, general advice	ATO	ATO	N/A
Lodging import and warehouse declarations – Nature 20 and Nature 30	N/A	Home Affairs (using ICS)	Home Affairs (using ICS)
EEG permissions – general advice, apply, amend or cancel: periodic settlement single movement continuing movement general movement	N/A	ATO	ATO
Non-EEG permission applications, issues (where you also deal in EEGs) single movement continuing movement	ATO	ATO	ATO
Non-EEG permission applications, issues (where you only deal in non-EEGs)	Home Affairs	Home Affairs	Home Affairs
Paying – Customs duty or indirect taxes if applicable	N/A	Home Affairs	Home Affairs
Advice on: tariffs non-precedential and administrative matters technical matters imported goods origin status of imports ICS support refund and drawback situations.	Home Affairs	Home Affairs	Home Affairs
Claiming refunds and drawbacks of customs duty	N/A	Home Affairs	Home Affairs
Seeking remissions of customs duty	ATO	ATO	ATO
Compliance – post transaction verification for stored goods	ATO	ATO	ATO
All imported tobacco product queries and permissions	Home Affairs	Home Affairs	Home Affairs

Duty free, provedore or catering bond industry

If you're in the duty free, provedore or catering bond industries and want to apply for a customs licence or to move goods from your warehouse, you must apply to the Department of Home Affairs.

If your supplier is moving goods from a warehouse licensed by:

us, they'll apply to us for a movement permission
the Department of Home Affairs, they'll apply to Home Affairs.

If you're a duty free store, provedore or catering bond dealing in excisable goods, customable goods and EEGs, contact:

us for your excisable goods
the Department of Home Affairs for your EEGs and customable goods.

Authorised contacts and broker details

We can only discuss your EEGs and non-EEGs matters with an authorised contact. Contact us if you wish to nominate a licensed customs broker as an authorised contact to deal directly with us on your behalf.

You or your customs broker must contact the Department of Home Affairs directly for enquiries about:

broker licensing
tariff classifications and duty rates
import/export transactions
passenger concessions
tariff, valuation and origin advice
export advice
system advice for Integrated Cargo System (ICS) and Tariff and Precedents Information Network (TAPIN).

How to contact the Department of Home Affairs

You can:

phone 13 18 81 in Australia, between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm AEST, Monday to Friday (excluding national public holidays)
visit their website at homeaffairs.gov.auExternal Link.

For more information on EEGs, see Excise equivalent goods (imports).

Confidential reporting of tax evasion

If you think someone may be engaging in tax evasion activities, we encourage you to report it to us by making a tip off.

You can also use the ATO tip-off form in the Help & Support section of the ATO app.

The reporting process is confidential. It will help us support the Australian community and retain fairness in the excise system.