Claiming TRS on Qantas Wine Purchases

[kangarooflyer88]

I will be leaving Australia in February and noticed that I could claim Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) on any items bought in the 60 days prior to departure. Crucially, wine is included in the list and one could receive the Wine Equalization Tax (WET) which can be as high as 29% of the wholesale price. Obviously this has the potential of greatly impacting the calculus of Qantas wine bonus points offers so I’m wondering if anyone has had any experience with TRS on wine and how it works.

-RooFlyer88

 

[p--and--t]

I will be leaving Australia in February and noticed that I could claim Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) on any items bought in the 60 days prior to departure. Crucially, wine is included in the list and one could receive the Wine Equalization Tax (WET) which can be as high as 29% of the wholesale price. Obviously this has the potential of greatly impacting the calculus of Qantas wine bonus points offers so I’m wondering if anyone has had any experience with TRS on wine and how it works.

-RooFlyer88

Remember you have to take it all with you. Usually they require it to be in hand luggage for inspection.

You might get caught with liquids more than a few 100ml at security not being allowed.

And the bottles would have to have their original contents, can't claim on empties

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I just stumbled across this site which claims the refund is 23.59% and that you don’t have to bring the wine through security. Instead, someone from customs will site it land side and stamp your refund form:

Airport Tax Refund Advice for International Travellers | Melbourne Wine House | Buy Online

winehouse.com.au

Again any first hand experience here would be appreciated.

 

[glasszon]

Can we claim TRS for alcohol products? The TRS app says we can't claim alcohol products:

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Can we claim TRS for alcohol products? The TRS app says we can't claim alcohol products:
View attachment 419748

Wine is not considered beer or spirits

 

[p--and--t]

Not sure how expensive your taste is. What you do need to be aware of is that unlike cheaper items that just require a cash register receipt with retailer ABN shown; any item(s) of purchase value AUD1000+ must be accompanied by an official receipt with your name and address clearly identified as well as the usual ABN, retailer etc

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Not sure how expensive your taste is. What you do need to be aware of is that unlike cheaper items that just require a cash register receipt with retailer ABN shown; any item(s) of purchase value AUD1000+ must be accompanied by an official receipt with your name and address clearly identified as well as the usual ABN, retailer etc

I could be mistaken here but I think the receipt from Qantas wines works have all of those details

 

[DC3]

Qantas Wine cheap plonk probably not worth the bother is it?

 

[SYD]

Qantas Wine cheap plonk probably not worth the bother is it?

Not necessarily. Especially the larger bonus point offers.

The other factors of course are correctly packing them so they survive and then of course the import limits and duties payable on arrival.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Qantas Wine cheap plonk probably not worth the bother is it?

Correct as bottles of wine weigh approximately one kilo each meaning on a flights to the Americas you can get maybe 24 bottles per suit case. My thinking is to get one of those $500 or $700 cases of wine that often carry hefty bonuses.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

The other factors of course are correctly packing them so they survive and then of course the import limits and duties payable on arrival.

That’s true. Different countries have different rules. I was surprised to see NZ allows up to 4.5l of wine and some countries are even more generous. Also, and I understand this is a highly controversial take, there is no requirement to declare wine that you don’t bring with you. So in theory you could somewhere that has a limit and simply discard the excess before clearing customs.

 

[DC3]

Correct as bottles of wine weigh approximately one kilo each meaning on a flights to the Americas you can get maybe 24 bottles per suit case …

Those 24 bottles going into a suitcase have a good chance of making it to the other end?

 

[elanshin]

Remember you have to take it all with you. Usually they require it to be in hand luggage for inspection.

You might get caught with liquids more than a few 100ml at security not being allowed.

And the bottles would have to have their original contents, can't claim on empties

You can show it to officers outside then check in the wines.

 

[DC3]

Would this wine be for quaffing or as gifts once overseas? Or for re-sale? I may have missed the point of all of this.

Edit: Or is it intended to bring it back to Oz?

 

[SYD]

Would this wine be for quaffing or as gifts once overseas? Or for re-sale? I may have missed the point of all of this.

Edit: Or is it intended to bring it back to Oz?

Exporting (to claim TRS) which makes the $ / points equation very attractive. But a bit of a hassle.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Would this wine be for quaffing or as gifts once overseas? Or for re-sale? I may have missed the point of all of this.

The intention would be either to take it overseas either to gift it to friends and/or family or to consume or lastly to simply chuck it in the bin at baggage claim when arriving abroad. The reason you would do any of these is the prospect of getting nearly a quarter of the monies spent on Qantas wine back. Keep in mind many people buy tons of wine from Qantas but have no intention of gifting it all, much less consuming it. For them the reason they are buying the wine is strictly due to the points per dollar accrued. For instance, some Qantas wine bonus points offers have made it possible to effectively buy wine at a cost of 1.25 cents per point, far less than what Qantas charges to buy points directly from them (even during a promotional sale). Now if I could get 23.59% back in the form of a TRS refund, I am now looking at just a cent a point. And that's just considering the bonus points, that doesn't consider base points or the 10% discount one would receive as a Points Club+ member.

Edit: Or is it intended to bring it back to Oz?

If you bring the wine back you must pay the TRS you received back in full. So the aim would be to export it from Australia for good.

Exporting (to claim TRS) which makes the $ / points equation very attractive. But a bit of a hassle.

Correct. As to your other point about it being a hassle, well it really depends on what we are working with. I believe some of the best wine offers with Qantas were for more expensive wines (i.e. Schoolhouse wine which retails for $80/bottle). So in those cases it wouldn't be too hard to pack a dozen bottles of wine in a checked bag particular if you're getting well over $200 back in the form of a TRS refund.

 

[SYD]

Correct. As to your other point about it being a hassle, well it really depends on what we are working with. I believe some of the best wine offers with Qantas were for more expensive wines (i.e. Schoolhouse wine which retails for $80/bottle). So in those cases it wouldn't be too hard to pack a dozen bottles of wine in a checked bag particular if you're getting well over $200 back in the form of a TRS refund.

I suspect a lot people do it and probably have the correct wine luggage (there are cool ones with inserts and cutouts for each bottle).

I’m always hesitant to carry wine in checked luggage after an “incident” with a bottle of red (that I didn’t even want) imploded in my checked luggage.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I’m always hesitant to carry wine in checked luggage after an “incident” with a bottle of red (that I didn’t even want) imploded in my checked luggage.

If the wine was properly packed (and that’s a big if) then any damage to the wine including broken bottles would be on the airline to reimburse under Article 19 of the Montreal Convention. Indeed some of us might even find it beneficial for such properly packed wine to get damaged since that means we could effectively get tens of thousands of Qantas points for literally nothing.

-RooFlyer88