A “manufacturer licence” may now be required when beer is re-packaged (eg growlers).
The Australian Taxation Office has determined that if beer has been packaged in an individual container over 48 litres and has had duty paid on it applicable to that volume, then the exercise of re-packaging that beer into smaller individual, sealed containers is treated as the manufacture of beer and attracts duty payable by that manufacturer.
A manufacturer licence is likely to now be needed if beer is re-packaged in a situation where that beer had duty paid on it previously at a lower rate and whereby the re-packaging of that beer is into individual sealed containers that are:
However, in one of the following circumstances a manufacturer licence may not be required and a second amount of duty on the same beer should not arise:
If the beer in question is decanted from a container that holds 48 litres or less.
If the person/business doing the repackaging obtains an excise storage licence to hold or acquire the bulk beer under bond. (The duty is then payable at the higher packaged rate when the smaller sealed containers are filled.)
A manufacturer licence should not be required where the beer has had duty paid on it at the higher rate and is then repackaged into another sealed container. Or, if a person/business obtains an excise storage licence to hold or acquire the bulk beer under bond without the duty being paid on the beer - the duty is then payable at the higher packaged rate (if applicable) when the small sealed containers are filled.
An application for a manufacturer licence can be accessed here.
The Hospitality Messenger recommends that licensees who may be affected discuss this with their business accountant.
The licensing authority announced this week that, with immediate effect, it would no longer accept payment for application fees and invoices with credit card details provided via application notices, invoice payment slips, email, phone, letter or fax.
Payments must be made in person, by cheque or where available, through the new online portal. An electronic payment system is apparently being developed but is not yet operational.
These changes are likely to be inconvenient for a while. The Hospital Messenger understands the intention is to improve security.
The Hospitality Messenger’s latest intelligence is that the new laws are still being finalised but closer to being ready and are intended, at this stage, to become operational before the end of 2019.
Licensed premises must only trade under the name that is approved by the licensing authority, which may be the licensee’s name or another name that is formally approved.
The approved trading name is the name that appears on the licence document as the name of the licensed premises. Breaching this requirement can attract a penalty of up to $2,000. Applying for approval to change a trading name is usually a quick and simple exercise.
Event applications for summer may need to be lodged soon. Applications need to be lodged between 14-60 days prior, depending on the size of the event. For the larger events, The Hospitality Messenger recommends lodging more than 60 days beforehand. Some public events will require a public interest assessment and may potentially be subject to advertising and objections.
The Alcohol Advertising Review Board recently considered a complaint regarding the following which was posted on the side of a Liquorland store in Geraldton, facing a school:
“an image of a can of Hammer n Tongs beer. To the right of the can was text stating “EVERY DAY $30 30 pk”. Along the bottom of the advertisement was a Liquorland logo and the text “GOTTA LOVE LOW PRICES”.
A three-member panel of the Board determined as follows:
“The advertisement did not contravene section (6) of the Placement Code, on the basis that while it was placed near a school, it was located on a premises licensed to sell alcohol”.
This and other published decisions of the Alcohol Advertising Review Board can be found here.
The_Hospitality_Messenger_-_September_2019_-_43rd_edition_1.pdf
