Ann: Half-Year Report - 31/12/13 , page-5

Yep, there is a $500,000 rebate on any WET paid for each entity. WET is 29% of the wholesale value. So the ideal size for a commodity winery is to produce up to a level where the rebate cannot be claimed any more. Say the winery produces wine for about 65c and then WET would be about 23c/l, which can all be claimed back up to $500,000. A rebate maximizing winery would produce ($500,000/.2275c per litre =) 2.2 million litres which would only require a 3,000 tonne winery. In reality, larger crushing facilities crush grapes on behalf of growers who then sell in bulk to the likes of woolworths. This is keeping wineries small. Furthermore, an ad valorem tax reduces in absolute terms as the price of wine decreases, therefore it is like a race to the bottom in terms of pricing. It's all quite perverse really.