Wine Equalisation Tax Rebate

On behalf of the State’s nine fine wine regions, Wines of Western Australia and the Margaret River Wine Association are calling for the Federal Government to respect and adhere to the core principles of reform widely endorsed by the greater Australian wine industry via the national body the Winemakers Federation of Australia
The WET rebate was established with the original policy intent being ‘… recognition of the substantial financial hardship faced by small rural and regional wineries and aimed to support  the viability and consequent capacity to generate employment wealth in local communities.’
Collectively small to medium sized wine businesses would find it extremely difficult to compete on a  fair and equitable basis should the Federal Government choose to ignore the overwhelming support provided to the WET rebate reform core principles widely endorsed by the Australian wine industry.
All small to medium sized wine businesses in Australia will be impacted regardless of their physical  location be it Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania or Victoria.
Therefore WWA and MRWA are calling for core principles for WET rebate to be adhered to by the Federal Government being:
1. The WET rebate has been instrumental in delivering long term benefits to the wine industry and tourism in regional Australia.
2. Any reforms that tighten eligibility, must continue to deliver on original policy intent; to supportsmall wine producers in rural and regional Australia.
3. The total available rebate is maintained and as a rebate not as a grant.
4. We support an Industry/Government collaboration in growing the export demand funded from the WFA integrity measure savings.
5. The Government should continue to monitor the use of the rebate to ensure it meets its original policy intent.
For more information, visit www.winewa.asn.