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Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) is a tax on wine levied at 29%. The tax is paid on the value of the wine at the last wholesale sale, or an equivalent value when there is no wholesale sale.

WET affects wine manufacturers, wholesalers, and importers. Retailers do not have a WET liability unless they make their own wholesale wine.

Generally, WET is included in the price that retailers such as bottle shops and restaurants pay when purchasing wine. The retailer is not entitled to claim back the cost of the WET, as the WET is built into the price the retailer pays and then passed on to the consumer.

WET applies to the following alcoholic beverages:

• Grape wine (including sparkling and fortified wine, marsala, vermouth, wine cocktails, and creams)
• Other fruit wines and vegetable wines (including fortified fruit and vegetable wines)
• Cider and perry
• Mead (including fortified mead) and sake

MORE: See the ATO website for more information on Wine Equalisation Tax and for instructions on filling out the WET section of the Activity Statement.