Two Sydney-based beverage importers will be forced to pay more than $1.25 million in penalties and recovered Duty and GST following an investigation by the Australian Border Force (ABF) into the undervaluation of imported plum wines and other fortified beverages.
The investigation by the ABF's Compliance Audits Unit commenced in June this year after a number of imports of beverages fortified with Soju liquor came to the attention of ABF officers.
The ABF targeted 23 imports over a four year period.
It was identified the company had classified the goods as fermented beverages which are duty free, but should have declared them under a different classification that is subject to customs duty.
The company was ordered to pay the outstanding duty and GST totalling $721,311. They were also fined more than $19,000.
Further investigations identified a second company involved in a similar practice. The ABF audited further consignments, imported over a four year period.
They were ordered to pay outstanding duty and GST totalling $505,069. They were also fined almost $11,000.
Both importers have accepted the findings and implemented changes to their business practices to ensure correct duty payment in future.
ABF Acting Assistant Commissioner for Port Operations Command, Claire Rees, said the penalties were a timely reminder for businesses to ensure they are correctly classifying their imports.
"As Australia's customs service, the ABF plays a leading role in trade enforcement to ensure the correct amount of duty and GST are paid on imported goods," Acting Assistant Commissioner Rees said.
"Had these two cases not been identified, the Australian economy and ultimately Australian taxpayers would have missed out on more than a million dollars in revenue."
"ABF officers work diligently to ensure importers comply with reporting and revenue collection requirements to ensure a level playing field for business."
Trade enforcement is one of ABF's key operational priorities.
Information to help businesses comply with their obligations is available at abf.gov.au