Purchasing wine “In Bond” (IB) is the traditional way of securing some of the world’s leading fine wines, particularly when they are first released for sale onto the market En Primeur. Fine wines are almost exclusively traded “In Bond” as they are often purchased as an investment and as such are a far more attractive to prospective buyers or brokers in this regard.
In purchasing your wine IB you will have the benefit from having a traceable history of the wine, its care, storage and provenance. As there are not that many Bonded Warehouses in the UK, this is a particularly straight-forward way of storing, selling and buying fine wines for investment or for your own personal enjoyment at a later date when the wine reaches optimum drinking maturity.
Wines listed for sale IB simply refers to the fact that they have not yet had Duty and VAT paid on them. For this reason, they must be stored in a wine bonded warehouse that is approved by H.M. Customs & Excise. The Duty and VAT element of the wine is only chargeable once the wines are delivered away from the bonded warehouse, to a destination which is not bonded, thus becoming "Duty Paid". This is a key advantage to buying wine IB as by deferring the payment of Duty and VAT means you are spreading the cost of your purchase. Additionally, should you choose to sell the wine IB, in future, you will not have to pay Duty and VAT. Only if the wine is sold in the future and released from Bond does the duty and vat have to be paid. At this point the duty rate chargeable is set at the current prevailing rate, however, the VAT that becomes payable is set on the original sale price, not the wine’s current market value. This means there is no need to make a payment up front if you plan to store your wine for a number of years.
As an independent retailer we work closely with a number of the UK’s leading wine shippers and agents and as such a number of wines listed online by Hic! for sale retail can also be purchased In Bond; however, they must be purchased as a full case (typically 6 or 12 bottles).
If you have your own Bond Account we charge delivery at cost to a separate bonded warehouse. If you hold an account at the same Bonded warehouse there is generally no charge to transfer the wines under-bond within the same storage facility.
Please contact us directly with any requirements for an In Bond purchase and we can provide you with a bespoke quotation for the wines you are interested in.
Wine Duty is a fixed charge set by Government annually during the budget. The prevailing rate of Duty remains the same, regardless of the cost of the wine. The current rates as of 1st February 2019 are:
• £2.23 per 75cl bottle of still wine (not exceeding 15% abv)
• £2.86 per 75cl bottle of sparkling wine. (exceeding 8.5% abc but not exceeding 15% abv)
£2.89 per 75cl bottle of fortified Port wine
More details on current UK Alcohol Duty Rates can be found here
UK VAT = 20% (applied after duty) - Please note that these rates are subject to change by Government at any time.