How much alcohol can you really bring back?

[vetrade]

I'm surprised that I'm asking this question because I thought I knew the rules already, but on checking for any recent changes I'm a little confused...........

Heading off next week with Mrs V and intended to bring back some wine (which we would purchase at wineries i.e. not at DF stores) from Stellenbosch (SA) and Champagne (France, of course) in our checked luggage, up to the maximum permitted, which I thought was 2.25 L pp but then noticed that the QF info on "Dangerous Goods" states:

Alcoholic Beverages

Requirements

• up to 5L of alcohol (between 24%-70% alcohol) per passenger
• securely sealed in retail packaging

But the Customs website says:

Alcoholic beverages
If you are aged 18 years or over, you can bring 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages duty-free into Australia with you. All alcoholic beverages in accompanied baggage are included in this category, regardless of where or how they were purchased.

Aviation security regulations may restrict the volume of liquids that you can bring into Australia as hand luggage. As an alternative, duty-free alcoholic beverages can be purchased in an airport duty-free shop on arrival in Australia. For more information about the restrictions, visit the TravelSECURE website.
Families travelling together can pool their duty-free concessions.
If you exceed Australia’s duty-free limits, duty and tax will apply on all items of that type (general goods, alcohol or tobacco), not just the goods over the limit.
If you have anything in excess of your duty-free concession, declare the goods and provide proof of purchase to us for calculation of any duty and tax to be paid.

Now, ordinarily I'd just accept that the Customs info trumps QF and leave it at that but I'm interested to know if both might apply i.e. if QF lets you bring in 5L pp but Customs only lets in 2.25L duty free does that mean that we could bring in up to 5L each and just accept that Customs will charge us the duty on the total amount? Not worried about paying the duty because what we would be buying wouldn't be available in Oz, but don't want to risk having anything confiscated by Customs if we do end up bringing in 10L between us.

What say y'all?

PS - if it's relevant we're heading to Germany, US and Canada after France, so will be taking the grog through those countries before heading home via LAX.

 

[TomVexille]

If you're happy to pay the duty and declare the excess on arrival I suspect you can bring back as much as you want.

It does look like the QF restriction is based on the Dangerous Goods limitations and my guess is that if you had more than 5L it would have to be declared as such and shipped as DG Freight instead of baggage. You will also note that QF specified 24-70% alcohol which appears to be aimed at spirits since most wines are in the 12-15% range.

 

[JessicaTam]

Agreed.

The QF requirements are from a carrier point of view, whereas customs is from a 'duty free' import point of view.

 

[JohnM]

If you're happy to pay the duty and declare the excess on arrival I suspect you can bring back as much as you want.

That would be correct - but it's not just duty that is payable. They calculate the WET (wine equalisation tax) as well. I think that there may also be another tax as well - or maybe it's just GST. And they can compound on each other. Plus, it can take some time while they calculate it all, then send you over to the cashier to pay.

It can be worth it if you have plenty of time and if you 'do not know' the price of that very expensive bottle of Bordeaux because 'it was given to me' (). In my limited experience, they then assign a price from a basic classification of white/red/sparkling. But, that said, if they did manage to correctly price your very costly wine, it could end up being a bomb.

And - this is important to know - the duty is imposed on ALL your wine once you exceed the 2.25 L limit; ie. you don't get the first 2.25 L duty free and only pay on the excess.

I had an interesting experience coming back LAX-MEL or SYD in QF F a few years back. I had three bottles of wine in my luggage, so I was on the limit. My AV system failed a couple of hours out from destination. I almost never use the AV for anything but looking at the flight track, so the failure didn't worry me but I notified the FA - merely so they could log it for maintenance. Anyway, the FA was very apologetic and offered me a bottle of Comtes :shock:.

What is this going to mean at Customs, I wonder? I declared the four bottles. On this occasion (maybe it was a Sunday morning - I recall it being quiet), the cashier was absent (or something like that), so the agent waved me through without even trying to assess the value. My lucky day .

 

[TheRealTMA]

If you're happy to pay the duty and declare the excess on arrival I suspect you can bring back as much as you want.

It does look like the QF restriction is based on the Dangerous Goods limitations and my guess is that if you had more than 5L it would have to be declared as such and shipped as DG Freight instead of baggage. You will also note that QF specified 24-70% alcohol which appears to be aimed at spirits since most wines are in the 12-15% range.

Be aware that if you exceed the allowable limit for customs (2.25l pp) you have to pay WET tax then GST on the total amount you bring in so you lose the DF allowance. If you ship wine back it's even worse since the WET and GST if charged on the full amount value of the wine (you can fiddle this) PLUS the freight. So a case of wine shipped from Italy via DHL can cost an extra $2-500 in total duties.

We've brought back a six bottle carton ( shipping carton) a number of times as luggage with no issues except anxiety. Alternatively, get a six bottle carton and buy a $20 suitcase to hold just wine and dirty underwear.

It can be worth it though for a case of good wines to ship them back and just pay the duty.

Bloody Terryists are to blame for the overzealous ban on hand luggage liquids. We used to always carry a 6 bottle box back but not anymore. There was talk that the liquids ban was to be removed last year but it hasn't happened yet... Sigh.

Since the 2.25l limit is volume not % you can bring in 95% alcohol from Italy and make your own limoncello at home.

 

[JessicaTam]

That would be correct - but it's not just duty that is payable. They calculate the WET (wine equalisation tax) as well. I think that there may also be another tax as well - or maybe it's just GST. And they can compound on each other. Plus, it can take some time while they calculate it all, then send you over to the cashier to pay.

It can be worth it if you have plenty of time and if you 'do not know' the price of that very expensive bottle of Bordeaux because 'it was given to me' (). In my limited experience, they then assign a price from a basic classification of white/red/sparkling. But, that said, if they did manage to correctly price your very costly wine, it could end up being a bomb.

And - this is important to know - the duty is imposed on ALL your wine once you exceed the 2.25 L limit; ie. you don't get the first 2.25 L duty free and only pay on the excess.

I had an interesting experience coming back LAX-MEL or SYD in QF F a few years back. I had three bottles of wine in my luggage, so I was on the limit. My AV system failed a couple of hours out from destination. I almost never use the AV for anything but looking at the flight track, so the failure didn't worry me but I notified the FA - merely so they could log it for maintenance. Anyway, the FA was very apologetic and offered me a bottle of Comtes :shock:.

What is this going to mean at Customs, I wonder? I declared the four bottles. On this occasion (maybe it was a Sunday morning - I recall it being quiet), the cashier was absent (or something like that), so the agent waved me through without even trying to assess the value. My lucky day .

I had a similar situation. On the limit for alcohol, and the CSM hands me a bottle of bubbles as I am walking off the plane. Got to customs and told them I had to change my form as I now had an extra bottle and why. Just waved through.

 

[straitman]

DG Regulations have absolutely no relationship to Duty Free Regulations. The DG limits are imposed by OCAO & IATA and the DF limits by the Australian Government.

 

[JohnM]

The other thing to be aware of is if you tightly wrap your wine in bubble-wrap and tape it up, security somewhere could cut it open to check the contents - and then most likely not tape it back up. You could end up with a smashed bottle in your case.

Basically, I've now given up on bringing wine back. It's too much hassle.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Heading off next week with Mrs V and intended to bring back some wine (which we would purchase at wineries i.e. not at DF stores) from Stellenbosch (SA) and Champagne (France, of course)

<Ears prick up> Please report back on your Champagne (France, of course) experiences - there are more than a few other AFFers heading there later this year also.

 

[defurax]

I don't have my IATA DG book with me, but IIRC any aqueous ethanol mixture with an ethanol content less than 24% is NEVER a dangerous good per definition (Class 3 flammable), so that's why people can bring as much wine as they want.
I guess the problem is that many exemptions have been made for passengers and these exemptions are not always reflected directly in the IATA regulations. My best guess is that the airlines calculated that if every passenger in the aircraft brings 5L of 70% alcohol the overall exemption of Class 3 liquid for the aircraft would be reached. So for a A380 with 400 PAX this would be 2000 litres of "undeclared" (i.e not declared as DG and packaged according to IATA rules).

 

[TheRealTMA]

I had a similar situation. On the limit for alcohol, and the CSM hands me a bottle of bubbles as I am walking off the plane. Got to customs and told them I had to change my form as I now had an extra bottle and why. Just waved through.

Yes. I've had 'nice' customs personal most of the times who've let me through with 4 bottles, but should one take the chance?

Friends brought back a case of CO Pinot for me from NZ and found a very unsympathetic official at BNE airport.

 

[JessicaTam]

Yes. I've had 'nice' customs personal most of the times who've let me through with 4 bottles, but should one take the chance?

Friends brought back a case of CO Pinot for me from NZ and found a very unsympathetic official at BNE airport.

Which was why I told them straight up. As I was walking off the flight/passport/luggage I didn't have a chance to scrabble for a pen and change it at the time.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Which was why I told them straight up. As I was walking off the flight/passport/luggage I didn't have a chance to scrabble for a pen and change it at the time.

Yes agreed. The worst way to deal with customs is to try to fool them. If you're up front you'll receive a much better response.

 

[TomVexille]

Yes agreed. The worst way to deal with customs is to try to fool them. If you're up front you'll receive a much better response.

Those are the people who end up on Border Security for my viewing pleasure

 

[blackcat20]

Not wine but last year I came home from thr US with fabric for my business. Declared, and as I wasn't travelling alone, was waved through. I think it depends on who you get, and whether it's worth the hassle for them.

 

[Bali Belly]

Coming back from HKG in Dec was given a bottle of bubbles plus the twin pack of Mr walker black purchased duty free all declared but waved through at mel So declare and let the powers to be decide

 

[JohnM]

Coming back from HKG in Dec was given a bottle of bubbles plus the twin pack of Mr walker black purchased duty free all declared but waved through at mel So declare and let the powers to be decide

Unless they were extra-large bottles, that sounds like the duty-free allowance anyway.

 

[JessicaTam]

Unless they were extra-large bottles, that sounds like the duty-free allowance anyway.

If the Johnnies were 1 litre bottles, that would do it.

 

[RooFlyer]

The other thing to be aware of is if you tightly wrap your wine in bubble-wrap and tape it up, security somewhere could cut it open to check the contents - and then most likely not tape it back up. You could end up with a smashed bottle in your case.

Basically, I've now given up on bringing wine back. It's too much hassle.

Strewth! That's not the JohnM I know :shock:. Surely, like me you can bed down 2 or 3 bottles in the checked baggage, suitably padded by clothes and in a (OK, token) plastic bag. I do it every trip - even in Canada I buy a bottle or 2 of Taylor Fladgate 20yo Oporto port and bring it back. Guess what the souvenirs from Mendoza will be .

 

[OzEire]

Is it just me (happy to be wrong for OPs sake) but wouldn't the duty free allowance of each country you pass through come into effect ? Unless you are transiting they will assume you intend to 'land' the goods in their country for consumption / sale, etc. and may not just assume you will take it out again for transport back to Australia.

At least while in the EU you wont technically cross a 'border' but the US ?

Anyway, worth thinking about.