Alcohol duty free concession

[RealtimeY]

Reading through the duty free concessions on alcohol, am I correct in understanding that it doesn't matter whether or not you paid taxes/duties on your alcohol purchased overseas, if you exceed the limit you will need to declare and pay Australian duties, meaning potentially paying tax on it twice?

 

[glasszon]

Yes, whether you paid taxes/duties overseas are irrelevant if you exceed the duty free concession limit.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Reading through the duty free concessions on alcohol, am I correct in understanding that it doesn't matter whether or not you paid taxes/duties on your alcohol purchased overseas, if you exceed the limit you will need to declare and pay Australian duties, meaning potentially paying tax on it twice?

Yes, correct.

I have previously exceeded this limit (way too low IMHO), offered to pay the duty and waved through - all too hard, apparently.

What are you buying?

 

[SYD]

I have previously exceeded this limit (way too low IMHO), offered to pay the duty and waved through - all too hard, apparently.

That may vary on the arrival port? I thought it was now common practice to charge duty on the entire amount now not just what you declare as over your limit?

Certainly, when the limit was a ridiculous 1125ml, I‘d routinely bring back and declare 2-3L and get waved through. Occasionally they’d passive aggressively comment that they could see I was a regular traveller…

But when they increased the limit to 2.25L they clamped down on the excess loophole. If they’ve gone back to the old ways, then that’s handy to know.

 

[glasszon]

That may vary on the arrival port? I thought it was no common practice to charge duty on the entire amount now not just what you declare as over your limit?

Certainly, when the limit was a ridiculous 1125ml, I‘d routinely bring back and declare 2-3L and get waved through. Occasionally they’d passive aggressively comment that they could see I was a regular traveller…

But when they increased the limit to 2.25L they clamped down on the excess loophole. If they’ve gone back to the old ways, then that’s handy to know.

It depends on the officer on the day. I had instances where they waved me through to paying duties with some sort of discount (ie. they disregarded the first 2.25L of alcohol even though by law they can hit me with the full amount). Thankfully so far I haven't got hit with the full duty yet.

 

[serfty]

That may vary on the arrival port? I thought it was no common practice to charge duty on the entire amount now not just what you declare as over your limit?

Current rules are that if you exceed a limit you are supposed to pay duty on the entire import. This was not previously the case.

Certainly, when the limit was a ridiculous 1125ml, I‘d routinely bring back and declare 2-3L and get waved through. Occasionally they’d passive aggressively comment that they could see I was a regular traveller…

When the liquor limit was 1125ml, there was a $50 assessable duty leeway which could be used for a second bottle (or the second carton of tobacco product or imports over the then $400 allowance or a combination).

But when they increased the limit to 2.25L they clamped down on the excess loophole. If they’ve gone back to the old ways, then that’s handy to know.

When the limits were increased to 2250ml and $900 (from $400) and tobacco doubled, the general $50 leeway went the way of the dodo.

Given the above, they really havn't changed recently.

More here:

 

[offshore171]

Grog is a waste of time unless it’s something rare or exotic.

It baffles me why people lug around large bottles of generic stuff like Jim Beam across the world to save maybe $10 against the Dan Murphys price.

 

[SYD]

Grog is a waste of time unless it’s something rare or exotic.

It baffles me why people lug around large bottles of generic stuff like Jim Beam across the world to save maybe $10 against the Dan Murphys price.

Preorder and collect on return.

It’s actually pretty hard to take booze with you these days unless you’re just flying point to point (and it’s cheaper to take it with you than buy locally). I stock up on single malts, cognacs and gins. Still quite significant discounts to even the sale prices at DM etc.

 

[justinbrett]

Grog is a waste of time unless it’s something rare or exotic.

It baffles me why people lug around large bottles of generic stuff like Jim Beam across the world to save maybe $10 against the Dan Murphys price.

Actually it's a hell of a lot cheaper to buy retail overseas and pack it in your checked luggage. The same bottle that costs A$60 at Dan's will usually cost around US$10-15 at a US supermarket. It will be more at a US airport duty free.

But yes, given the bother, I only do this for stuff I can't buy here (which is actually a lot).

Reading through the duty free concessions on alcohol, am I correct in understanding that it doesn't matter whether or not you paid taxes/duties on your alcohol purchased overseas, if you exceed the limit you will need to declare and pay Australian duties, meaning potentially paying tax on it twice?

Almost every trip I go on, I exceed the duty free limit for alcohol, usually in the range of 5-10L (only the upper end if I'm travelling with someone, as there's a dangerous goods limit of 5L for spirits above 23% ABV).

I always declare - that's the most important thing. I'm completely upfront when questioned, stating how much I have. Around 80% of the time, I'm given a "just this time we'll waive it through. I've had to pay duty about 3 times, only once was the full amount, others they did stuff like charge it all at the lowest ABV or leave off a couple of bottles. To save time I actually do up a sheet with a list of what I have, the volume, ABV and LAL (litres of pure alcohol), purchase price and country of origin. This usually makes the process a lot quicker if they do decide to charge (once an officer questioned how I knew the term LAL and I think had a suspicion I was a professional importer, I just said I like booze)

Usually I come through SYD or BNE, I don't think I've ever been charged at SYD - once they attempted to but the person responsible was on a break. BNE much more likely to get charged.

 

[Freq Flier 2013]

Preorder and collect on return.

It’s actually pretty hard to take booze with you these days unless you’re just flying point to point (and it’s cheaper to take it with you than buy locally). I stock up on single malts, cognacs and gins. Still quite significant discounts still to even the sale prices at DM etc.

Just use cash rewards or ShopBack site when they have 15-20% off. Sooo much easier and cheaper. Applies to DM and most other liquor stores.

 

[Sprucegoose]

But when they increased the limit to 2.25L they clamped down

That's the limit thats too low! 5-6 litres.

it depends on the officer on the day

It certainly does - almost pure luck. I profile these guys and my formula nearly always works.

Grog is a waste of time unless it’s something rare or exotic

Agree. Some great OZ classics have been up to 30-40% cheaper in other markets, which gets us into serious proposition territory. SIN, just post-Covid was a (surprisingly) good hunting ground. Duty Free and Dutiable.

Rare Champagnes (Rare themselves and the Grand Cru stuff from the smaller houses) and Whiskys (say Glenlivet Private Collection/Mortlach)

I only do this for stuff I can't buy here (which is actually a lot).

Our market is highly centralised, and commercial agreements influence our choices more than I care to think about.

I don't think I've ever been charged at SYD - once they attempted to but the person responsible was on a break. BNE much more likely to get charged.

I have found that generally more so with Sydney on a range of compliance matters.

Anything to do with the first constabulary being ex-cons?

 

[SYD]

That's the limit thats too low! 5-6 litres.

Totally agree!

NZ has 4.5L of wine (or beer) plus 3 bottles (max 1.125L ea) of booze….

 

[Sprucegoose]

Totally agree!

NZ has 4.5L of wine (or beer) plus 3 bottles (max 1.125L ea) of booze….

I knew Cinders could make some meaningful change......

 

[Matt_01]

When it was easier to get I used to buy a bottle of Yamazaki 18, Hakushu 18 and Hikbi 21 on leaving Japan (airport duty free). At other times and if travelling with the family I would buy the distillery only whiskeys and bring them back as part of their luggage.

 

[Forg]

Prices on a lot of what you can get here have dropped markedly, it was something like around 10-15 years ago. 20 odd years ago somewhere like Dan Murphys had the fancier versions of the Scotch from Highlander for around AU$100 and I asked my parents to bring back a bottle from Scotland which cost them about AU$25 … but in 2018 a similar bottle in Scotland was a converted ~AU$60 and yet Dan’s has the same thing for ~AU$80. 1/4 the cost is worth carrying it around … maybe … saving $20 most definitely is NOT.

IMHO it’s pretty pointless for anything you can buy here, the hassle of saving twenty bucks simply ain‘t worthwhile compared to just the airfare being 100x that.

 

[glasszon]

Generally the biggest price difference is on liquor. It can be worthwhile to buy either the cheapest liquor you can get overseas to maximize the saving on alcohol duty which attracts close to $90 per litre of alcohol, or very premium stuff as the price difference would be worth the hassle.

Just keep in mind that the the duty free allowance for alcohol does not have a dollar limit, so if you wanted to bring back a $10k bottle, you can do so duty and tax free as alcohol sits outside the general allowance.

 

[SYD]

Actually it's a hell of a lot cheaper to buy retail overseas and pack it in your checked luggage.

I was assuming that was the OPs question - bringing back stuff that could have been purchased retail. Who knows, that could be rare wines and what not.

 

[offshore171]

It can be worthwhile to buy either the cheapest liquor you can get overseas to maximize the saving on alcohol

To what end though? Use it for removing oil stains from the garage floor?

 

[glasszon]

To what end though? Use it for removing oil stains from the garage floor?

Haha, fair point. I am more thinking along the lines of Vodka. You can get quite reasonable Vodka at a very low price overseas. For example I wouldn't mind drinking Kirklands Vodka purchased from US Costco.

You are right though that buying a cheap whisky in a plastic bottle is asking for trouble...

 

[justinbrett]

To what end though?

To get drunk, obviously!