When WET applies
WET applies to the following beverages when they contain more than 1.15% by volume of ethyl alcohol, regardless of the size of the container in which they're packaged in:
- grape wine (including sparkling and some fortified wine)
- grape wine products (such as marsala)
- fruit wines and vegetable wines
- cider and perry (although, WET doesn't apply to all cider and perry)
- mead
- sake.
For the purposes of WET these products are all referred to as wine.
For more information, see Wine Equalisation Tax Ruling (WETR 2009/1) – The operation of the wine equalisation tax system (paragraphs 8 to 36).
Fortified wine
When wine is fortified, either WET or excise applies, depending on the type of wine and its alcoholic strength.
For wine that can be fortified (such as grape wine, grape wine products and fruit or vegetable wines), WET applies to end products that contain 22% alcohol (or less) by volume. For more information, see Excise on fortified wine.
Products WET doesn't apply to
WET doesn't apply to the following beverages:
- beer
- spirits
- liqueurs
- pre-mixed spirits
- some flavoured ciders
- ready-to-drink designer drinks.
If these beverages have an alcohol content of more than 1.15% they are subject either to:
- excise duty, if they’re manufactured in Australia
- customs duty, if they’re imported.
For more information, see Excise and excise equivalent goods.