Exporting wine to the United Kingdom. The VI-1 has gone; the duty hasn't.
Italian wine no longer needs a VI-1 in the United Kingdom. But its label changes between England and Scotland, and its duty is calculated on alcohol, not price.
You don't need a VI-1. For wine arriving from the European Union in England, Scotland or Wales, the UK government's guidance, updated on 19 September 2025, doesn't require one.
The label depends on the nation the wine enters. In England it carries the name and address of a business based in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, with no requirement for the word “importer”. In Scotland and Wales it carries the importer's address preceded by “importer” or “imported by”.
The duty is £30.62 per litre of pure alcohol. That's the rate in force from 1 February 2026 for wine between 8.5% and 22%: a 0.75-litre bottle at 13% pays about £2.99.
This page is part of exporting wine: the documents, who issues them and when you need them, and covers the British market. The post-Brexit rules common to every food, from the safety and security declaration to REX, are in exporting food to the United Kingdom.
How to export wine to the United Kingdom: what's different from other foods
Exporting wine to the United Kingdom involves three things ordinary foods don't: the VI-1, which isn't needed for wine from the EU; the label address, which differs between England on one side and Scotland and Wales on the other; and alcohol duty, calculated on litres of pure alcohol and added to the price of every bottle.
| Item | What the UK requires | Source |
|---|---|---|
| VI-1 | Not needed for wine from the EU to Great Britain. | GOV.UK, 19 September 2025 |
| Label in England | Name and address of a business based in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. | GOV.UK |
| Label in Scotland and Wales | Importer's address, preceded by “importer” or “imported by”. | GOV.UK |
| Alcohol duty | £30.62 per litre of pure alcohol, wine from 8.5% to 22%. | GOV.UK, 1 February 2026 |
The VI-1 is no longer needed
To import wine from the European Union into England, Scotland or Wales you don't need the VI-1, the document that used to accompany imported wine. The UK government's guidance on importing, selling and labelling wine, updated on 19 September 2025, says so. The VI-1 is only still needed for wine entering Northern Ireland from outside the EU.
The wine label: England versus Scotland and Wales
Wine imported into England must show the name and address of a business based in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, which takes responsibility for marketing it. The words “importer” or “imported by” aren't mandatory, as the same guidance makes clear.
“Wine imported into England must show the name and address of a business that is based in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man” (GOV.UK, importing, selling and labelling wine)
Wine imported directly into Scotland or Wales follows a different rule: it carries the importer's address preceded by “importer” or “imported by”. Before printing back labels for the UK, ask the importer which nation the wine is entering, because a label that's right for London may not be right for Edinburgh.
The other labelling rules come from the Food Standards Agency. The British label comes on top of the European base in Article 119 of Regulation (EU) 1308/2013, described on the page about the documents for wine and its label.
UK alcohol duty on wine: per litre of pure alcohol
In the United Kingdom, duty on wine is calculated on litres of pure alcohol, volume times strength, multiplied by the band rate. For wine from 8.5% to 22%, the rate in force from 1 February 2026 is £30.62 per litre of pure alcohol, according to the UK government's table.
An example, made up to explain the calculation and not taken from a real client: a 0.75-litre bottle at 13% contains 0.0975 litres of pure alcohol and pays about £2.99 in duty. On 600 bottles that's about £1,791. At the same price, a wine at 14.5% pays more than one at 12%.
| Bottle | Litres of pure alcohol | Duty at £30.62 |
|---|---|---|
| 0.75 litres at 12% | 0.0900 | £2.76 |
| 0.75 litres at 13% | 0.0975 | £2.99 |
| 0.75 litres at 14.5% | 0.1088 | £3.33 |
| 1.5 litres at 14.5% | 0.2175 | £6.66 |
Who pays the duty depends on the agreement with the importer and the term written in the offer, as explained in Incoterms: who pays for what. Check the rate again on the UK government page before every offer.
The template, to download
One file, two sheets. The first is the checklist, with the source next to each line and a drop-down status to fill in. The second takes the volume, strength and number of bottles, checks the band and works out the UK duty per bottle and per shipment, with the rate editable.
| File | Contents | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Wine to the United KingdomExcel, two sheets | Eight checklist lines with their sources, and the duty per bottle and per shipment. |
The files are free. There's no form in the way, we don't ask for an email address, and we don't get notified when anyone downloads them. UK VAT isn't in the sheet.
Questions and answers
Do you need a VI-1 to export wine to the United Kingdom?
No, for wine arriving from the European Union in England, Scotland or Wales. The UK government's guidance on importing, selling and labelling wine, updated on 19 September 2025, says so.
The VI-1 is only still needed for wine entering Northern Ireland directly from outside the European Union.
Which address goes on the label of wine exported to the United Kingdom?
It depends on the nation the wine enters. In England, the name and address of a business based in the UK, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, with no requirement for the words importer or imported by.
In Scotland and Wales, the importer's address preceded by importer or imported by.
How much is the alcohol duty on wine in the United Kingdom?
For wine from 8.5% to 22% alcohol, £30.62 per litre of pure alcohol, according to the UK government's table in force from 1 February 2026. Litres of pure alcohol are the volume multiplied by the alcohol strength.
A 0.75-litre bottle at 13% pays about £2.99.
Does UK duty on wine depend on the price?
No, it depends on the alcohol. It's calculated on litres of pure alcohol, volume times strength, multiplied by the band rate: at the same price, a wine at 14.5% pays more than one at 12%.
On a 0.75-litre bottle, going from 12% to 14.5% takes the duty from about £2.76 to about £3.33.
Who pays the duty on wine exported to the United Kingdom?
The business releasing the wine for consumption in the UK, depending on the agreement with the importer and the Incoterm written in the offer.
It's worth putting it next to the ex-cellar price in the offer itself, because it changes with the strength of each wine.
Notes on sources
- GOV.UK, importing, selling and labelling wine, updated on 19 September 2025: the VI-1, the label in England and in Scotland and Wales. The quotation is word for word.
- GOV.UK, Alcohol Duty rates, updated on 1 February 2026: £30.62 per litre of pure alcohol for wine from 8.5% to 22%, and the calculation by volume and strength.
- The numerical examples are made up to explain the calculation and aren't taken from a real client. The sources were read on 25 September 2026; check the rate again before every offer.
In the United Kingdom, the first question is which nation the wine enters.
That decides the label. The duty, on the other hand, gets worked out before the offer, bottle by bottle. At Itria we start from the outside and build tailored digital systems for exporters. For you, that means more enquiries, fewer losses and less manual work. Drop us a line about what's slowing you down. We'll make the first move: we'll look at what a buyer sees when they search for you, and tell you what we found. Even if we never end up working together.