Drink link: Can you buy cheap wine from abroad online?

With the advent of minimum pricing, which prohibits the sale of alcohol at low prices, the cost of your daily or weekly tipple has come into sharp focus once more.

Ireland has always been expensive when it comes to buying alcohol. Figures from Eurostat last year put the State as the most expensive in the EU, at almost double the EU average, and these new measures have made prices here even higher.

While the aim of minimum pricing is to be lauded – the goal is to stop alcohol-related harm – its method has led to some criticism. So, given the discrepancy between prices in Ireland and elsewhere, it’s a reasonable question to ask then: Can you buy cheaper alcohol online?

And what are the rules around buying alcohol abroad in person?

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We all know that if you go on a "booze cruise" to France or a drive up to Newry or Belfast, you will be entitled to a certain amount for personal consumption without being liable to excise duty – but how much?

A trip to a warehouse in Cherbourg or Roscoff means you can stock up your boot with the following – all excise duty free:

800 cigarettes

400 cigarillos

200 cigars

1kg smoking tobacco

10 litres of spirits (whiskey, gin, vodka and so on)

20 litres of other alcoholic drinks with no more than 22 per cent alcohol (for example port, sherry and some liqueurs)

90 litres of wine (of which only 60 litres can be sparkling)

110 litres of beer

According to a Revenue Commissioners spokeswoman, the guidelines apply for purchases made in person across the EU and Northern Ireland.

Revenue’s advice on such purchases is that you do it in person, the goods must be for your own consumption – not to be resold – and you should keep the relevant receipts.

What about online?

When it comes to buying online, it is quite a different proposition altogether. This is because there are rules set out in EU legislation, which apply throughout the EU, for online purchases of excisable products such as alcohol from another member state.

In short, these mean that online deliveries of alcohol are subject to duties. And for people living in Ireland, these duties are high.

Firstly, the rules mean that the onus is on the international seller to appoint a tax agent in Ireland, who takes responsibility for payment of the excise duty due to Revenue. This may not always happen, however, and when it doesn’t, the responsibility for paying the duty falls on the customer.

To pay this duty, Revenue says the customer can contact them before their wine, beer or spirits are dispatched and pay the excise duty involved. If that doesn't happen, you might not be able to get delivery of your goods until the duty is paid.

According to the spokeswoman, where the duty has not already been paid by either the customer or the seller’s tax agent, Revenue will detain the consignment when the products arrive in Ireland at a port or parcel depot and write to the consignee/customer concerned.

Once you pay the duty, the goods will be released to you. If you don’t pay, the goods will be seized, and, in time, may be destroyed.

In practice, whether or not Revenue can stop all smaller deliveries is unclear. Some people have been caught by that duty docket at the door and, for others, those deliveries made it to their wine racks duty free.

What about Northern Ireland/UK?

When it comes to buying online from Northern Ireland, under the terms of the Ireland and Northern Ireland protocol, the above also applies. This means that if you buy online from a company in Northern Ireland, you should be obliged to pay excise duty on the goods.

This may be less of an issue, however, given the ease with which many people can drive over the Border for a shopping trip.

When it comes to online purchases from a British seller, it all gets even trickier, given that the UK is now outside the EU. According to Revenue – and as many people are now familiar with since Brexit – additional customs formalities apply when buying from outside the EU.

Someone buying wine online from the UK will first be required to complete a customs import declaration and submit it to their home customs authority. The customs authority will then release the products to the importing person only when the customs duty (which varies depending on the product), the import VAT and the excise duty is paid by the importer.

And in addition to the regular rates of excise duty/VAT, customs duty may also be payable when importing from the UK. This will likely depend on what’s being ordered; beer, brandy and gin, for example, do not attract customs duty, but wine, sparkling wine and rum do.

Who delivers to Ireland?

It's not always that easy to find an EU-based website that delivers to Ireland. In the past, Nicolas (a sort of French O'Briens) used to deliver for personal consumption in Ireland. However, it says that it has stopped international delivery, and now only delivers in France and Corsica.

Similarly, Vinissimus, a Spanish website, tells us it stopped delivering to Ireland due to "customs shipping" issues – in other words, with Revenue imposing duties on alcohol delivered to Ireland, it was probably no longer competitive to do so.

One website that is eyeing the Irish market is Vinello.eu. A spokesman for the company, which stocks a broad selection of international wines, including French, Australian, German, Italian and Chilean, tells us that the website is currently setting up a process to enable shipping to Ireland. This is expected to take "at least some more weeks".

What’s the price once excise is included?

While the prices online might look attractive, the caveat is that they will also be subject to Irish excise rates. When combined with shipping costs, the attractiveness does diminish.

Revenue gives the example of a bottle of still wine retailing for €5.50. Excise will be €3.19 on this 75cl bottle of wine (with alcohol content of between 5.5 per cent and 15 per cent) with a further VAT liability of €1.03 – so a total tax take of €4.22.

When it comes to beer, you’ll pay duty of 47 cent on a 500ml bottle with, for example, 4.2 per cent alcohol content. VAT also applies, at a rate of 23 per cent, so more than a third (€1.03) of the price of a bottle of beer will be down to taxes.

This puts Ireland out of whack with much of Europe. A report published during the summer by Ibec found that Ireland had one of the highest excise rates in Europe, along with Finland (€2.98 for a bottle of wine) and the UK (€2.50). This compares with zero excise in Austria, Portugal and Germany, while France applies duty of just 3 cent on a bottle of wine and 7 cent on sparkling wine.

For example, a bottle of Bouvet-Ladubay sparkling rosé will cost you €24 at Whelehans in Dublin; on vinello.eu, on the other hand, you can buy it at €12.90 per bottle. So almost half price.

However, this is before shipping costs. While prices are not yet available for Ireland, prices for shipping to mainland Europe are about €19 for up to 18 bottles (so as little as €1.05 a bottle) and €46 for up to 54 bottles. It’s likely that prices to Ireland will be higher.

And then there’s your excise duty. On this bottle of sparkling rosé, this would come to a total cost then of €20.32, given excise of €6.37 on sparkling wine – and potentially even more depending on shipping costs plus VAT. Not much of a saving then, if a saving at all.

The (high) costs of buying wine online

IRELAND v GERMANY

Bouvet-Ladubay sparkling rose

Vinello.eu €12.90; with tax & shipping €20.32 (+VAT)

Whelehanswines.ie €24

IRELAND v PORTUGAL

Boas Quintas Fonte do Ouro Tinto

Garrafeiraportugal.pt €5.50; with tax & shipping €11.94 (+VAT)

OBrienswine.ie €16.95

The (cheap) costs of buying in person

IRELAND v NORTHERN IRELAND

Faustino VII Rioja

Tesco (Republic) €13

Tesco (Northern Ireland) £8 (€9.55)

IRELAND v FRANCE

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine

SuperValu €11.99

Carrefour €3.95