Welcome tax relief for brewers and distillers

In a win for brewers and distillers across Australia, the Government has announced an increase in the excise refund cap. The move puts alcohol manufacturers on an equal footing with wine producers.

What does this mean?

This means that the tax refund will be increased from 60% to 100%, and the cap is tripled from $100,000 up to $350,000, bringing it up to the same benefits as the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) producer rebate.

Brewers and distillers will be able to claim a full refund from 1 July 2021.

The boost is hoped to encourage hiring across the sector and investment in to new machinery and equipment to help with growth. It is estimated this will give back an average of $55,000 into brewer and distiller pockets.

There are about 600 brewers and 400 distillers across Australia, most of which operate in rural and regional areas.

In a recent statement Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said “Businesses will automatically receive excise duty remissions when they lodge excise returns, providing them with investment incentives, and fast tracking the reduction in the small company tax rate to 25% by 1 July 2021.”

Eligibility

To be eligible for a refund, you must:

hold a manufacturer licence authorising you to manufacture alcoholic beverages
have manufactured an alcoholic beverage and paid excise duty on it
have fermented or distilled at least 70% of the alcohol content by volume of the alcoholic beverage
be legally and economically independent of any other entity that has received a refund under the scheme – if you’re not legally and economically independent of any other entity, only one manufacturer in your group is entitled to the refund.

To find out more and to understand some examples, view the Federal Government’s Fact Sheet here, and scroll to page 7.

We are pleased to see this investment in a growing industry that benefits many regional areas. If you have any questions regarding the tax relief for brewers and distillers, please contact Jacob Lea on 03 5443 0344.