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Title 26, Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-110

§5362 Removals of Wine From Bonded Wine Cellars

Title 26 › Subtitle E — Alcohol, Tobacco, and Certain Other Excise Taxes › CHAPTER 51 — DISTILLED SPIRITS, WINES, AND BEER › Subchapter F — Bonded and Taxpaid Wine Premises › PART II — OPERATIONS › § 5362

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

You may take wine out of bonded wine cellars if you pay the tax or the tax is figured, following rules set by the Secretary. Wine with unpaid tax can be moved in bond between bonded places. If wine is moved to the bonded area of a distilled spirits plant, it can only be used to make distilled spirits and cannot be removed for sale or drinking as wine. The tax stays due until that wine is used to make distilled spirits. Moving wine in bond is not treated as removing it for sale. “Bonded premises” means a bonded wine cellar or the bonded area of a distilled spirits plant. Wine with unpaid tax can also be withdrawn without paying tax for certain uses under rules and bonds the Secretary requires. These uses include export, transfer to foreign-trade zones or customs bonded warehouses, use on certain ships or aircraft, making vinegar, distillation at authorized spirits plants, university research, testing by the owner, and use by the U.S. or state governments for analysis or research (governments do not need a bond). Wine or wine products that are made unfit for drinking may be withdrawn tax-free but must not be over 21 percent alcohol by volume and cannot be used to make distilled spirits or beverage wine. Wine placed in customs bonded warehouses can be withdrawn tax-free for official or family use by eligible foreign governments or people, may be brought into the U.S. for domestic use as returned American goods, and must not be sold or used except as allowed; penalties apply for improper sale or use.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §5362

Internal Revenue Code, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Withdrawals on determination of tax
Wine may be withdrawn from bonded wine cellars on payment or determination of the tax thereon, under such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe.
(b)Transfers of wine between bonded premises
(1)In general
Wine on which the tax has not been paid or determined may, under such regulations as the Secretary shall prescribe, be transferred in bond between bonded premises.
(2)Wine transferred to a distilled spirits plant may not be removed for consumption or sale as wine
Any wine transferred to the bonded premises of a distilled spirits plant—
(A)may be used in the manufacture of a distilled spirits product, and
(B)may not be removed from such bonded premises for consumption or sale as wine.
(3)Continued liability for tax
The liability for tax on wine transferred to the bonded premises of a distilled spirits plant pursuant to paragraph (1) shall (except as otherwise provided by law) continue until the wine is used in a distilled spirits product.
(4)Transfer in bond not treated as removal for consumption or sale
For purposes of this chapter, the removal of wine for transfer in bond between bonded premises shall not be treated as a removal for consumption or sale.
(5)Bonded premises
For purposes of this subsection, the term “bonded premises” means a bonded wine cellar or the bonded premises of a distilled spirits plant.
(c)Withdrawals of wine free of tax or without payment of tax
Wine on which the tax has not been paid or determined may, under such regulations and bonds as the Secretary may deem necessary to protect the revenue, be withdrawn from bonded wine cellars—
(1)without payment of tax for export by the proprietor or by any authorized exporter;
(2)without payment of tax for transfer to any foreign-trade zone;
(3)without payment of tax for use of certain vessels and aircraft as authorized by law;
(4)without payment of tax for transfer to any customs bonded warehouse;
(5)without payment of tax for use in the production of vinegar;
(6)without payment of tax for use in distillation in any distilled spirits plant authorized to produce distilled spirits;
(7)free of tax for experimental or research purposes by any scientific university, college of learning, or institution of scientific research;
(8)free of tax for use by or for the account of the proprietor or his agents for analysis or testing, organoleptic or otherwise; and
(9)free of tax for use by the United States or any agency thereof, and for use for analysis, testing, research, or experimentation by the governments of the several States and the District of Columbia or of any political subdivision thereof or by any agency of such governments. No bond shall be required of any such government or agency under this paragraph.
(d)Withdrawal free of tax of wine and wine products unfit for beverage use
Under such regulations as the Secretary may deem necessary to protect the revenue, wine, or wine products made from wine, when rendered unfit for beverage use, on which the tax has not been paid or determined, may be withdrawn from bonded wine cellars free of tax. The wine or wine products to be so withdrawn may be treated with methods or materials which render such wine or wine products suitable for their intended use. No wine or wine products so withdrawn shall contain more than 21 percent of alcohol by volume, or be used in the compounding of distilled spirits or wine for beverage use or in the manufacture of any product intended to be used in such compounding.
(e)Withdrawal from customs bonded warehouses for use of foreign embassies, legations, etc.
(1)In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, wine entered into customs bonded warehouses under subsection (c)(4) may, under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, be withdrawn from such warehouses for consumption in the United States by and for the official or family use of such foreign governments, organizations, and individuals who are entitled to withdraw imported wines from such warehouses free of tax. Wines transferred to customs bonded warehouses under subsection (c)(4) shall be entered, stored, and accounted for in such warehouses under such regulations and bonds as the Secretary may prescribe, and may be withdrawn therefrom by such governments, organizations, and individuals free of tax under the same conditions and procedures as imported wines.
(2)Withdrawal for domestic use
Wine entered into customs bonded warehouses under subsection (c)(4) for purposes of removal under paragraph (1) may be withdrawn therefrom for domestic use. Wines so withdrawn shall be treated as American goods exported and returned.
(3)Sale or unauthorized use prohibited
Wine withdrawn from customs bonded warehouses or otherwise brought into the United States free of tax for the official or family use of foreign governments, organizations, or individuals authorized to obtain wine free of tax shall not be sold and shall not be disposed of or possessed for any use other than an authorized use. The provisions of paragraphs (1)(B) and (3) of section 5043(a) are hereby extended and made applicable to any person selling, disposing of, or possessing any wine in violation of the preceding sentence, and to the wine involved in any such violation.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 5362, act Aug. 16, 1954, ch. 736, 68A Stat. 665, consisted of provisions similar to those comprising this section, prior to the general revision of this chapter by Pub. L. 85–859.

Amendments

1980—Subsec. (c)(4). Pub. L. 96–601, § 2(a), substituted “customs bonded” for “class 6 customs manufacturing”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 96–601, § 2(b), added subsec. (e). 1979—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 96–39 substituted references to bonded premises for references to bonded wine cellars and inserted provisions relating to wine transferred in bond to a distilled spirits plant which may not be removed for consumption or sale as wine, provisions relating to continued liability for tax on wine transferred to bonded premises, and provisions defining “bonded premises”. 1976—Subsecs. (a) to (c). Pub. L. 94–455, § 1906(b)(13)(A), struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary” wherever appearing. Subsec. (c)(9). Pub. L. 94–455, § 1905(c)(4), struck out “and Territories” after “the several States”. Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 94–455, § 1906(b)(13)(A), struck out “or his delegate” after “Secretary”. 1967—Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 90–73 added subsec. (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1980 Amendment Pub. L. 96–601, § 2(c), Dec. 24, 1980, 94 Stat. 3496, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect on the first day of the first calendar month which begins more than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 24, 1980].”

Effective Date

of 1979 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 96–39 effective Jan. 1, 1980, see section 810 of Pub. L. 96–39, set out as a note under section 5001 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1976 AmendmentAmendment by section 1905(c)(4) of Pub. L. 94–455 effective on first day of first month which begins more than 90 days after Oct. 4, 1976, see section 1905(d) of Pub. L. 94–455, set out as a note under section 5005 of this title.

Effective Date

of 1967 Amendment Pub. L. 90–73, § 1(b), Aug. 29, 1967, 81 Stat. 175, provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall become effective on the first day of the first month which begins 90 days or more after the date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 29, 1967].”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 5362

Title 26, Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110