Excise guidelines for the alcohol industry

• This document has changed over time. View its history.

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

The contents of these guidelines are being reviewed as a result of changes to the Excise Act 1901 that will commence on 1 July 2023. We aim to have this review completed by 31 January 2024.

This guide is intended to be a reference tool for the alcohol industry to assist its members to meet their excise obligations. It contains information about the excise system and how it applies to alcohol and alcohol products that are manufactured or produced (hereafter the reference to 'manufacture' or 'manufactured' is a reference to 'manufactured or produced', 'manufacture or produce' or 'manufacture or production' having regard to the relevant context unless otherwise specified) in Australia.

The guide will provide you with a broad outline of excise law and your compliance obligations - it does not cover every aspect of how excise law applies to every situation.

If this guide does not fully cover your circumstances, please seek help from us or a professional adviser.

• the Online Services for Business
• phone 1300 137 290
• fax at 1300 130 916
• email at alcohol@ato.gov.au , or
• write to us at

• Australian Taxation Office
• PO Box 3514
• ALBURY NSW 2640

We will ordinarily respond to electronic requests within 15 business days and finalise private rulings within 28 days of receiving all necessary information. If we cannot respond within 28 days, we will contact you within 14 days to obtain more information or negotiate an extended response date.

TERMS WE USE

When we say you , we mean you as a member of the alcohol industry who is either registered or wishes to register for excise.

Some technical terms used in this guide may be new to you - some are defined in the legislation, others are not. They are shown in bold when first used and are explained at the end of that chapter.

The terms CEO, Collector, and Commissioner are all used in the legislation in reference to various officers. In most instances in this guide we have not used these specific terms and simply refer to 'us' or 'we'.

OUR COMMITMENT

The information in this publication is current at June 2021.

This publication is an expression of the Commissioner's opinion on the operation of the Excise Act 1901 and Excise Tariff Act 1921 as they relate to alcohol. This publication is not legally or administratively binding on the Commissioner and is not a 'public ruling' for the purposes of Division 358 of Schedule 1 to the Taxation Administration Act 1953 .

Since we regularly revise our publications to take into account any changes to the law, you should make sure this edition is the latest. The easiest way to do this is by checking for a more recent version on our website at www.ato.gov.au