{"id":"C2004A00455","name":"A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax Imposition—Excise) Act 1999","slug":"a-new-tax-system-wine-equalisation-tax-imposition-excise-act-1999","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":"65 of 1999","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":436114,"registerId":"C2004A00455-fast-fetch-1775953382398","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-12","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax Imposition—Excise) Act 1999","content":"---\nmeta-content-style-type: text/css\nmeta-content-type: application/xhtml+xml; charset=utf-8\n---\n\n?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\" standalone=\"no\"?>\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nA New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax Imposition—Excise) Act 1999\n\n \n\nNo. 65, 1999\n\n![](image.001.png)\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nA New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax Imposition—Excise) Act 1999\n\n \n\nNo. 65, 1999\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to implement A New Tax System by imposing the tax payable under the wine tax law, so far as that tax is a duty of excise\n\n \n\n \n\n \n\nContents\n\n1 Short title...................................\n\n2 Commencement...............................\n\n3 Imposition..................................\n\n4 Rate......................................\n\n5 Act does not impose a tax on property of a State............\n\n \n\n![](image.001.png)\n\nA New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax Imposition—Excise) Act 1999\n\nNo. 65, 1999\n\n \n\n \n\nAn Act to implement A New Tax System by imposing the tax payable under the wine tax law, so far as that tax is a duty of excise\n\n[Assented to 8 July 1999]\n\nThe Parliament of Australia enacts:\n\n1  Short title\n\n  This Act may be cited as the A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax Imposition—Excise) Act 1999.\n\n2  Commencement\n\n  This Act commences on 1 July 2000.\n\n3  Imposition\n\n (1) The tax that is payable under the wine tax law (within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999) is imposed by this section under the name of wine equalisation tax (wine tax).\n\n (2) This section imposes wine tax only so far as that tax is a duty of excise within the meaning of section 55 of the Constitution.\n\n4  Rate\n\n  The rate of wine tax payable under the A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999 is 29%.\n\n5  Act does not impose a tax on property of a State\n\n (1) This Act does not impose a tax on property of any kind belonging to a State.\n\n (2) Property of any kind belonging to a State has the same meaning as in section 114 of the Constitution.\n\n \n\n \n\n[Minister’s second reading speech made in—\n\nHouse of Representatives on 24 March 1999\n\nSenate on 31 March 1999]\n\n \n\n(44/99)\n\n\n \n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act remains tightly scoped to its original constitutional purpose. It was always intended as a narrow 'imposition' Act to satisfy section 55 of the Constitution for domestic wine production, while the substantive tax rules live in the companion legislation. No scope creep has occurred — it still does exactly what it said on the tin in 1999."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 5 sections spanning approximately 1 page","No defined terms section — relies entirely on definitions from companion Act (A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999)","Single operative provision (section 3) with straightforward conditional limitation ('only so far as that tax is a duty of excise')","No nested exceptions or complex conditional logic","Cross-references limited to: (a) the companion Wine Equalisation Tax Act for substantive rules, and (b) section 55 of the Constitution for the 'excise' concept","Rate fixed at flat 29% with no tiers, thresholds, or calculations required in this Act"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does:**\n\nThis is one of two 'mirror' laws that create the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) — a 29% tax on wine sold in Australia. This specific Act imposes the tax **only** when it counts as a 'duty of excise' under the Constitution (basically, a tax on goods produced or manufactured in Australia, like locally made wine).\n\n**Why two laws?**\n\nAustralia's Constitution has quirky rules about what taxes the Federal Government can charge. 'Excise' duties (taxes on local production) need different constitutional backing than 'customs' duties (taxes on imports). So Parliament passed two separate Acts:\n- This one (the 'Excise' version) covers Australian-made wine\n- A companion Act covers imported wine\n\n**Who it affects:**\n\n- **Wineries and wine producers** — they pay this tax on the wine they make\n- **Wholesalers** — they may also bear the tax depending on supply chain arrangements\n- **Consumers** — ultimately, this cost flows through to wine prices\n\n**Key details:**\n- **Rate:** 29% (set in stone here, though the main Wine Equalisation Tax Act contains the detailed rules)\n- **Start date:** 1 July 2000 (part of the GST tax reform package)\n- **State protection:** The Act explicitly can't tax property belonging to State governments (a constitutional safeguard)\n\n**Why it matters:**\n\nThis Act is the constitutional 'hook' that makes the wine tax legally valid for Australian-produced wine. Without it, the broader wine tax system would collapse for domestic producers. It's a short, technical piece that exists purely to satisfy constitutional requirements while the companion A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999 does the heavy lifting on actual administration."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act implements the wine equalisation tax as an excise and sets a single rate; it does not expand the policy beyond that original purpose. The substantive operational rules, liability rules and administrative mechanics are contained in the separate A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999. The Imposition Act’s principal functions are to (a) impose the tax to the extent constitutionally permissible (s 3(2)), (b) fix the rate (s 4), and (c) preserve the constitutional exemption for State property (s 5). It therefore remains within the narrow scope of implementing the wine tax as an excise rather than broadening the statutory purpose."},"complexity_factors":["Very short Act (5 substantive sections: short title, commencement, imposition, rate, State property exemption)","Direct cross-reference to the A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999 for substantive liability, collection and definitions (increases interpretive reliance on external statute)","Fixed numerical rate (29%) (simple scalar, low conditionality)","Constitutional cross-references to section 55 (limit on excise power) and section 114 (State property exemption) — introduces legal interpretive risk despite statutory brevity","Limited exceptions (only the State property exemption), minimal nested conditions or multiple tiers of exceptions"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this law does (in plain English)**\n\n- This Act imposes the wine equalisation tax (referred to in the separate A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999) as an excise duty. (An \"excise\" is a tax on goods, imposed by the Commonwealth under the Constitution.)  [see s 3]\n\n- The Act sets the rate of that wine tax at 29%.  [see s 4]\n\n- The Act only imposes the tax to the extent that the wine tax qualifies as a duty of excise under section 55 of the Constitution. In other words, it is written to respect constitutional limits on Commonwealth excise power.  [see s 3(2)]\n\n- The Act does not apply to property that belongs to a State (that exemption is defined by reference to section 114 of the Constitution).  [see s 5]\n\n- The Act commences on the date stated in the Act. (It is short and depends on the separate WET Act for the detailed rules about who is liable, how the tax is calculated in practice, registration, collection and enforcement.)  [see s 2; cross-reference to the WET Act in s 3(1)]\n\n\nWho it affects and who pays\n\n- The Act itself does not restate which persons must pay or how the tax is administered; those operational details are contained in the separate A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999. Practically, the people and businesses required to pay will be those identified as liable under that WET Act (for example, businesses involved in wholesale supply or importation of wine under the WET Act’s rules).\n\n- Indirectly, consumers, retailers, producers, importers and wholesalers in the wine supply chain are affected because the tax increases the price of taxable wine and creates compliance obligations for liable entities.\n\n\nWhy it matters (mechanics, incentives and likely effects)\n\n- Revenue and prices: By imposing a 29% tax rate on the wine tax base established in the WET Act, the measure increases the tax component attached to wine sales. Recipients in the supply chain who are legally required to remit the tax face either reduced margins or pass-through of the tax into consumer prices.\n\n- Compliance and administration: The Act is narrowly framed; it delegates the detailed compliance, accounting, registration and collection rules to the separate WET Act. That means the compliance burden and administrative costs fall mainly from the separate instrument, not from this short Imposition Act itself. However, liable businesses must follow the WET Act’s rules to calculate and remit the 29% tax.\n\n- Constitutional constraint and legal risk: The Act explicitly limits the imposition to the portion of the wine tax that can be characterised as an excise under section 55 of the Constitution. That is a legal hedge designed to reduce constitutional challenge risk, but it also creates a legal boundary that may require judicial interpretation if disputes arise about whether particular tax elements are excise.\n\n- Exemption for State property: Property owned by a State is excluded. That reduces the tax base in specific factual circumstances (for example, wine that is property of a State) and aligns the Act with the constitutional prohibition against taxing State property.\n\n\nTrade-offs, opportunity costs and practical risks\n\n- Trade-offs: The government obtains revenue from wine sales but imposes costs on businesses (compliance and remittance) and potentially consumers (higher prices). The scale of behavioural change (e.g., reduced wine consumption, product reformulation, or substitution to other beverages) depends on the effective incidence of the tax and market responses set out in the WET Act.\n\n- Opportunity cost: Revenue raised via the WET could have been raised by other taxes or spending adjustments. The choice to tax wine specifically shapes incentives in the alcohol market rather than more broadly taxing consumption or income.\n\n- Implementation risk: Because the Act is short and cross-references the substantive WET Act, implementation depends on clarity and enforceability of the separate instrument. The explicit constitutional limitation reduces legal exposure but may generate litigation to test the boundary between excise and other tax forms.\n\n\nWhere to look in the law\n\n- Section 3: Imposition of the wine tax (subject to constitutional limit).\n- Section 4: Sets the rate at 29%.\n- Section 5: Excludes State-owned property from the tax.\n- The detailed obligations, liability rules and administrative mechanics are in the A New Tax System (Wine Equalisation Tax) Act 1999, which this Imposition Act imports by reference (see s 3(1))."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-wine-equalisation-tax-imposition-excise-act-1999","history":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-wine-equalisation-tax-imposition-excise-act-1999/history","analysis":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-wine-equalisation-tax-imposition-excise-act-1999/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-wine-equalisation-tax-imposition-excise-act-1999/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-wine-equalisation-tax-imposition-excise-act-1999/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/a-new-tax-system-wine-equalisation-tax-imposition-excise-act-1999/documents"}}