Buying Fine Wine

Calculating Duty and VAT

Wines bought in the UK are subject to both duty and VAT. If buying a wine for immediate delivery, these are both included in the quoted price. If you buy a wine under bond, duty and VAT will be chargeable when you wish to have the wine delivered.

What will I have to pay?

Duty is a fixed charge, set by the government during the budget. Duty remains the same regardless of the cost of the wine.
Duty is higher on sparkling wines and fortified wines
Duty is subject to Value Added Tax (VAT)
The level of Duty you pay is whatever is current at the time of delivery.
VAT is also chargeable on the value of the wine – based on what you paid for it, not market price.

For example

A case of 12 bottles of 2005 Ducru Beaucaillou, purchased in 2006 at £1,038.00

Duty	£19.26
VAT on the Duty (20% of £19.26)	£3.85
VAT on the wines (20% of £1,038)	£207.60
Total to pay upon delivery*	£230.71

*excluding onward carriage charges

Current Duty Rates

As an illustration current rates* for selected styles and formats are:

	Rate per	Rate per
Wine Style	9lt Case	75cl Bottle
Still Wine (5.5%-15%)	£19.26	£1.61
Still Low Alcohol Wine (4%-5.5%)	£8.16	£0.68
Sparkling Wine (8.5%-15%)	£24.67	£2.06
Sherry / Port (15%-22%)	£25.68	£2.14