Excise return

When to complete an excise return

Complete an excise return to either:

• request authorisation to deliver excisable goods into the Australian domestic market (for home consumption)
• report excise liabilities arising under a periodic settlement permission (PSP).

Lodging an excise return

The easiest way to lodge online is by using online services for businessExternal Link, through myGov ATO online services for individualsExternal Link or online services for agentsExternal Link.

Lodging your excise return online means you can:

• quickly and easily lodge without downloading a PDF form
• only see questions that are relevant to your return
• easily submit a nil return when you have no product details to report
• have your excise duty amounts automatically calculated
• use pre-filled tariff items, after your first online lodgment
• track the amount of remission if eligible for the Remission scheme for alcohol manufacturers (Remission scheme)
• view your lodged returns, transaction history and future lodgment due dates.

How to access the online form

To access the form using online services:

• select Lodgments
• select Excise duty return
• select the type of return, then Prepare
• complete all mandatory fields and review the information
• tick the Declaration box and select Submit.

For help when completing the online form, you can:

• hover over or click the (?) icon for quick tips or smart help
• click on the (?) Help button on the right side of the screen for all Help topics.

If you need assistance to lodge online contact us.

How to access your delivery authority

To access your delivery authority in online services when you prepay:

Online services for business

• select Communication
• select Secure mail
• navigate to the relevant mailbox
• click on the Delivery Authority/Excise return attachment and download the PDF document.

To receive an email notification that your delivery authority has been issued, add an email address in the Notifications field at the bottom of the secure mail inbox.

Email notifications will always be sent from our trusted email address, Taxofficeportalmessagenotify@ato.gov.au

You can also access your delivery authority from the Excise duty return landing page:

• select Lodgments
• select Excise duty return
• select Pre-payment
• click on the Delivery authority link for the selected period.

Online services for agents

• Select Communication
• Select Communication History
• Select Search
• click on the Delivery authority link for the selected period.

If you need to amend a previously lodged return, refer to Excise amendment.

If you are unable to lodge your excise return using online services, you can use the PDF return form.

The PDF return form

The Excise return PDF form is designed to be completed on a desktop or laptop computer (not on a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet). You'll need to use Adobe ReaderExternal Link software to view the form.

Because this is an electronic form, you can type your answers straight into the boxes provided.

Some questions will only be displayed if we need you to answer them. If you want to see all the questions before filling in the form, use the Print form with all questions button to print a copy.

How to get the PDF form

Double-clicking the form won't open it. The form will not load on a mobile device, tablet or within a browser.

To complete the form, you must save it to your desktop computer or laptop (with the latest version of Adobe Acrobat installed) by following these steps:

• To download, right click on Excise return (NAT 4285, PDF 1.4MB)This link will download a file.
• Select Save target as (or a similar option depending on your internet browser) to save it to your computer.
• To open your saved form, right click on the PDF file in the folder it was saved in, select Open with then select Adobe Acrobat Reader DC.
• Enable Protected View and JavaScript if prompted before filling in the form. If they are not enabled, additional questions will not be displayed and the form will be incomplete.
• Once it's complete, save it using the Save form button at the end of the form.

Note: Update your default app for PDF file types to Adobe Acrobat Reader DC to open all PDF files with Adobe Acrobat.

Help completing the return form

Follow these instructions to help you complete the Excise return PDF form.

Your details

Provide the legal name of the person or business liable to pay excise duty. Do not provide a business name if it's different to the legal name. A business name is a name registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

It's not compulsory to provide your Australian business number (ABN), however it will help us to process your return promptly.

If you operate your business as a trust, enter the ABN of the trustee in its capacity as trustee for the trust.

Your client account number is linked to your ABN and is used to identify your excise account with us.

Lodgment details

If you don't have a periodic settlement permission

If you don't have a PSP, you must lodge an Excise return and prepay excise duty before you can deliver excisable goods into the Australian domestic market.

When lodging, you must provide the establishment ID and establishment address for the location you intend to remove the goods from.

Is a payment required for this return?

If your goods are eligible for the Remission scheme and this reduces the amount payable to nil, select No and continue to Product details.

Has the required payment been made?

If you have excise duty payable on your return, your return will not be processed until payment has been made.

If payment has been made, provide the date of payment. You can attach proof of payment for faster processing.

You can expect your prepayment returns to be processed within 2 business days of us receiving all the necessary information.

Once we've received payment (where applicable) and approved your return, we will issue you with a delivery authority allowing you to physically move the goods from the licensed premises and deliver them into the Australian domestic market (for home consumption).

See how to access your delivery authority in online services.

If you have a periodic settlement permission

A PSP allows you to:

• Deliver excisable goods into the Australian domestic market (for home consumption) over the specified settlement period.
• Defer lodging your excise return and paying excise duty until a specified date.

You must lodge an excise return (usually weekly, monthly or quarterly) detailing the deliveries you made during the settlement period and pay excise duty on these goods if applicable.

Provide your settlement permission number and the settlement period in the space provided.

Do you have any product details to report?

If you have product details to report, including goods that are eligible for the Remission scheme, select Yes and continue to Product details.

If you have not delivered any excisable goods into the Australian domestic market (for home consumption) during the settlement period, select No. This will indicate the lodgment is a nil return.

Product details

You can enter different types of excisable goods on the one return. For example, beer, spirits and fuel can be entered on the same return.

Complete a separate line for each tariff item number. It may be necessary to complete 2 lines for the same tariff item where the Remission scheme applies to some products and not to others.

Label A: Tariff item

Excisable goods are classified to a tariff item or subitem in The Schedule to the Excise Tariff Act 1921 (the Schedule). Each tariff item and subitem has a number allocated to it. You need to complete a separate line for each one.

If you don't know which tariff item applies, refer to Excise duty rates for alcohol or Excise duty rates for fuel and petroleum products.

Label B: Quantity in dutiable units

The quantity in dutiable units is the amount or volume of product you have delivered into the Australian domestic market (for home consumption) and are liable to pay excise duty on. This is known as dutiable quantity.

This field also includes the measurement unit you are using to report the volume (or mass). Most excise tariff items listed in the Schedule have a measurement unit specified for that type of good. This is known as a dutiable unit.

The following are examples of dutiable units:

• litres of alcohol
• kilograms of compressed natural gas
• litres of fuel (other than blended fuels).

As excise duty is not payable on the first 1.15% of alcohol content in beer, use the following formula when calculating the dutiable quantity of beer products:

Total litres of beer × (alcohol strength – 1.15%) = dutiable quantity

The alcohol strength for all alcoholic beverages is calculated on the labelled strength or actual strength of the product, whichever is higher.

Reporting dutiable quantity for:

• alcohol – truncate to one decimal place
• fuels – to the nearest litre or kilogram
• crude and condensate – round kilolitres to one decimal place.

Provide the quantity in dutiable units and select the unit type at label B.

Quantity for blended fuels including biofuel blends

Blended fuels are products listed under tariff item numbers 10.7, 10.12 and 10.30.

The dutiable quantity for blended fuels is the total quantity of the blend regardless of whether duty has been paid, in:

• litres for tariff items 10.7 and 10.12
• litres/kilogram for tariff item 10.30.

Label C: Statistical quantity for blended fuel

Excise tariff items for blended fuel also have a second measurement unit type, known as statistical quantity.

The statistical quantity is the proportion of the blended product which is biodiesel, ethanol or water. Report this as a whole amount with no decimal places.

Provide the statistical quantity of the product in litres at label C.

Label D: Duty rate

Each excise tariff item listed in the Schedule has a rate of excise duty.

The duty rate for beer is determined by the strength of the product and the size and type of the container.

For blended fuels the rate of duty is the amount of duty worked out under section 6G of the Excise Tariff Act 1921.

Provide the relevant rate of excise duty for your product at label D.

Label E: Excise amount

The excise amount is the excise liability (if any) for each line you've entered on your return. When you fill in the form online, the excise amount for each line is calculated for you by multiplying the quantity in dutiable units (label B) by the rate of excise duty (label D).

If you are reporting blended fuels, and you need to deduct any excise duty previously paid, contact us for a different version of the Excise return form.

Label F: Apply alcohol manufacturer remission

If you are eligible for the Remission scheme, select Yes for each line to which this applies, to the cap amount. The remission amount (label F) will equal the excise amount (label E).

If you are not eligible for the Remission scheme, select No for each line to which this applies. The remission amount (label F) will be nil.

If only some of your products are eligible for the Remission scheme, ensure the goods are entered on separate lines and select:

• Yes for eligible goods, and
• No for goods that are not eligible.

Note: You cannot apply more than $350,000 of the Remission scheme per financial year. If you obtained your manufacturer licence partway through a financial year, you will need to calculate an adjusted cap. Calculate the maximum remission for that year by multiplying $350,000 by the number of days in the financial year that you held your manufacturer licence, divided by 365.

What to do when you reach the cap

Once you have reached the $350,000 (or adjusted) cap in a financial year, you can no longer apply the Remission scheme. This means you must select No for all product reported for the rest of the financial year.

If you reach your cap partway through a reporting period, you will need to use separate lines and select:

• Yes for eligible product lines up to the cap amount
• No for the remaining product lines.

You will need to do separate lines, even if the product is the same tariff item.

Note: You may not be able to apply exactly $350,000 of the Remission scheme. However, the total applied must be as close as possible to $350,000 for the year.

If your settlement period overlaps with an excise duty rate change

If excise duty rates change for your excisable goods during your settlement period, you will need to lodge either:

• a single excise return – with different product lines for products delivered before the rate change and products delivered from the date of the rate change; or
• 2 separate excise returns – one for products delivered before the rate change, and one for products delivered from the date of the rate change.

Rate changes occur due to:

• a graduated annual increase in the excise duty on biodiesel until 2030
• the indexation of alcohol and fuel goods every 6 months in February and August by reference to CPI (consumer price index)
• government changes to duty rates.

Excise duty summary

The amounts in the excise duty summary are automatically calculated from the 'Product details' table.

Total excise amount

This is the total of all excise duty amounts (label E) from each line in the 'Product details' table.

Total alcohol manufacturer remission

This is the total of all Remission scheme amounts (label F) from each line in the 'Product details' table.

You must monitor the amount of the Remission scheme that you have applied during the financial year. Once you have reached a total remission amount of $350,000 (or adjusted amount), you can no longer apply the remission to any goods entered into the Australian domestic market (for home consumption) for the remainder of the financial year.

Total excise duty payable

This is the amount of excise duty payable for this return. It is the total excise amount less any amounts applied under the Remission scheme.

This is the amount you must pay to us.

Declaration

You, or a person who is authorised to act on your behalf (an authorised contact), must complete the declaration. If the applicant is a business entity, the declaration can only be completed by a primary contact or an authorised contact.

If you lodge this return through Online services for business, your electronic credential will be accepted as your electronic signature.

Lodging your return

Before you lodge your return, make sure you have completed all the mandatory sections.

Keep a copy of your completed return for your records. Lodge the original through:

• secure mail in Online services for business
• practice mail in Online services for agents
• mail to

Australian Taxation Office
PO Box 3007
PENRITH  NSW  2740

Lodge through Online services for business

If you use Online services for business to lodge your return, it is more secure and will be processed faster than if you lodge by mail.

Follow these steps to lodge through secure mail in Online services for business:

1. Fill in the return form
2. Save the completed form as a PDF to your computer
3. Log in to Online services for business
4. Select Communication, then Secure mail
5. Create a New message
6. Select View more topics from the Topic list
7. Select Excise from the Other topics list
8. Select Excise returns from the Subject list
9. Attach the return form
10. Provide your contact details and complete the declaration
11. Select Send.

You will receive a receipt number once you've lodged your return.

Tracking your return progress

You can track the progress of your return in Online services for business by selecting Your dealings from the Communication menu.

You can also view your excise account to see the financial outcome of your return.

Lodge through Online services for agents

Follow these steps to lodge through practice mail in Online services for agents:

1. Select Communication, then Practice mail
2. Create a New message
3. Select View more topics from the Topic list
4. Select Excise from the Other topics list
5. Select Collections returns from the Subject list
6. Select I am enquiring on behalf of client from Enquiry type
7. Search for and select your client
8. Attach the return form
9. Provide your contact details and complete the declaration
10. Select Send.

You will receive a receipt number once the message has successfully been sent.

Correcting errors

If you have made an error and need to amend the product details that you previously reported in an Excise return, you will need to complete an Excise amendment form.

Service standards

You can expect your return to be processed within 28 days of us receiving all the necessary information.

If your return is incomplete, we will contact you for more information. If the information we need isn't provided after a reasonable period, you must relodge the return.

Contact us

If you need more information, you can contact us or see:

• Lodging and paying – excisable alcohol
• Remission scheme for alcohol manufacturers
• Lodge an excise return and pay fuel excise duty

How to complete an excise return form.