Check if you need approval to sell alcoholic products to another business
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-06)

Check if you must register for the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS) to sell alcoholic products to another business.

Overview

If you sell alcoholic products to another business, you may need to apply for approval for the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS). HMRC introduced the scheme to tackle alcohol fraud.

When you must apply

If you’re going to start wholesaling in alcoholic products, you must apply for approval at least 45 days before you intend to start trading. You should make sure you have sufficient business planning in place before you apply, so we can check you meet the criteria for the AWRS.

You must wait until you get approval from HMRC before you start trading. You’ll face penalties if you trade without approval.

Who must apply

You’ll need to apply for the AWRS if all of the following apply:
- your business sells, or arranges the sale of alcoholic products, and has an establishment in the UK
- your sales are made at, or after, the point where excise duty is due
- any sales to other businesses are made for onward sale or supply
Selling alcoholic products for resale

All businesses that supply alcoholic products to other businesses for resale need to apply. This includes:
- breweries and microbreweries
- wine producers, including producers of other fermented products (previously known as ‘made-wine’)
- vineyards
- spirit producers
- cider producers, unless charged a nil rate of Alcohol Duty under the Small Producer Relief scheme
- wine importers
- general wholesalers selling alcoholic products, including cash and carry businesses
- specialist wine wholesalers
You’ll also have to apply if you’re supplying alcoholic products to other businesses for resale as:
- a broker
- a retailer who makes regular sales to other businesses
- an auctioneer
- a charity, non-profit organisation or educational establishment that either produces or supplies alcoholic products to other businesses for resale
Types of business

You can apply for approval as a:
- limited company
- sole trader or self-employed
- business partnership
- limited liability partnership
- limited partnership
- group
If you work for yourself, you must register for Self Assessment (https://www.gov.uk/register-for-self-assessment/self-employed) and enrol in the online service before you apply for the AWRS. Your agent or accountant will still be able to submit your Self Assessment tax return if you’ve authorised them to do so.

Who does not need to apply

You do not need to apply if you’re only involved in the following sales.

Incidental sales

You do not need approval if you’re a licensed retailer or trader who does not set out to sell alcoholic products to other businesses. This could be because you:
- only make unintentional wholesale sales in the course of your retail activity, like unplanned sales through a supermarket checkout
- knowingly make wholesale sales to a buyer who approaches you, but only on an exceptional basis — for example, sales from a shop to a local restaurant that has run out of a certain type of wine
In these cases you may not know the buyer. The only indication that they’re buying alcoholic products for commercial purposes may be if they ask for a tax invoice.

Corporate group sales

You will not need approval to make wholesale sales of alcoholic products between members of the same corporate group.

If you make any wholesale sales outside of the corporate group, the companies involved will need to apply for approval.

If more than one company from the same group makes wholesale sales, those companies can apply for group AWRS approval.

How to apply for approval

Find out how to apply for the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/alcohol-wholesaler-registration-scheme-awrs-apply-to-register).

Buying alcoholic products to sell

If you buy alcoholic products to sell from a UK wholesaler, you’ll need to check that the wholesaler is approved by HMRC (https://www.gov.uk/check-alcohol-wholesaler-registration).

You’ll need to repeat this check regularly, to make sure that any wholesalers you buy from are still approved for the AWRS. Keep records of these checks as evidence of your due diligence activities.

Learn more about the AWRS

Read Excise Notice 2002 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-2002-alcohol-wholesaler-registration-scheme) to learn more about:
- conditions for AWRS approval
- restrictions that we may need to apply to your business
- group approvals
- records you must keep
- sanctions and penalties