Buying Wine In Bond

A popular way of buying and storing wine is to purchase it whilst it’s in bond. This simply means that the wine is stored in a H.M. Customs & Excise-approved bonded warehouse and that duty and VAT is deferred until such time as the wine leaves the bonded warehouse.

Wines bought in the UK are subject to both duty and VAT. If buying a wine for immediate delivery (duty paid), 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.

Why buy in bond?

• Buying in bond allows you to spread the cost of purchase by deferring the payment of duty and VAT on your wine until such a time as you wish to have the wine delivered.
• You will have a traceable history of its care and provenance – important particularly if you wish to sell your wine at a later date.
• Should you wish to sell the wine at a later date, merchants or brokers will usually only pay the same in bond price regardless of whether or not the wine is duty paid.

How does it work?

• 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 based on the ABV of the wine
• 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.