Can Alcohol Be Shipped to Indiana? Wine Only, Permit Required

Shipping alcohol to Indiana is tightly restricted: only wine can be sent directly to an Indiana consumer, and only by a winery that holds a Direct Wine Seller’s Permit from the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC). Beer and distilled spirits cannot be shipped to Indiana consumers through a common carrier under current law.¹

What You Can and Cannot Ship

The Direct Wine Seller’s Permit is the only permit in Indiana’s alcohol code that authorizes delivery by a common carrier to a consumer’s door.² If you run a craft brewery or distillery and want to ship your product to Indiana customers, the law doesn’t provide a path. The administrative code even calls out artisan distillers shipping to consumers as a specific violation category, with fines up to $4,000.³

The permit also has a self-production limit. The wine shipped must be manufactured, produced, or bottled by the permit holder. A third-party retailer cannot use the permit to ship other producers’ wine into the state.¹

Getting the Direct Wine Seller’s Permit

A winery must hold the permit before shipping a single bottle. The permit runs annually and renews each year. The fee is tiered by the volume of wine the winery plans to ship into Indiana during the permit year:⁴

Up to 9,000 liters: $100
Up to 18,000 liters: $200
Up to 27,000 liters: $300
Up to 36,000 liters: $400
Up to 45,000 liters: $500

First-time applicants estimate their expected volume. Renewing applicants certify what they actually shipped the prior year. No permit holder may ship more than 45,000 liters total into Indiana in a single permit year.⁵

Labeling, Delivery, and the Per-Consumer Cap

Every shipping container must carry this exact text, stamped, printed, or labeled on the outside: “CONTAINS WINE. SIGNATURE OF PERSON AGE 21 OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY.”¹ The wording is specific, not a general suggestion about marking packages.

The package can only be delivered to one of four places: the consumer’s home, their business address, the carrier’s business address, or an address the consumer writes on the shipping container. Whoever physically takes the package must be either the consumer who placed the order or someone at least 21 years old.⁶

Before the sale, the consumer must provide a name, delivery address, phone number, and proof of age through a government-issued ID. The winery can verify the ID in person, by photocopy, by electronic transmission, or through a third-party age verification service.¹

There is also a per-consumer cap. No more than 216 liters of wine may be shipped to any single Indiana consumer in a calendar year.¹

Taxes and Records

Direct wine sellers remit Indiana excise, sales, and use taxes to the Indiana Department of State Revenue monthly, each payment covering the prior month’s shipments.¹ The wine excise rate is $0.47 per gallon.⁷ Indiana sales tax applies on top of that, which can catch out-of-state wineries off guard if they aren’t used to collecting Indiana sales tax at the point of sale.

Permit holders must keep sales records for at least two years. If the ATC requests them, the winery either makes them available during business hours or delivers copies to the commission.¹

Who Can Actually Deliver the Package

Not every shipping company can carry wine into Indiana. The delivering carrier must hold a valid Carrier’s Alcoholic Beverage Permit under IC 7.1-3-18.¹ Major carriers such as FedEx and UPS typically hold these permits; smaller regional carriers may not.

The winery is responsible for directing the carrier to verify the recipient’s age, and the carrier must confirm the recipient is at least 21 before handing over the package.¹ A carrier that fails to follow delivery requirements faces administrative penalties up to $1,000 per violation.³

Penalties for Unauthorized Shipments

Indiana enforces its shipping rules on two tracks: criminal charges and administrative fines.

Criminal Charges

A vintner, distiller, brewer, or importer that holds a federal basic permit from the TTB and knowingly ships alcohol into Indiana in violation of state law commits a Class A misdemeanor, carrying up to 365 days in jail and a fine up to $5,000.⁸

Anyone shipping without a federal basic permit faces a Level 6 felony, which carries potential prison time beyond the one-year misdemeanor cap.⁸

Administrative Fines

The ATC assesses administrative penalties by permit type and violation:³

Illegal shipment by a brewer, distiller, or artisan distiller: up to $4,000
Illegal shipment by a wholesaler: up to $2,000
Illegal shipment by any other permit holder: up to $1,000
Selling and shipping wine without a valid Direct Wine Seller’s Permit: up to $1,000
Violating delivery requirements: up to $1,000
Artisan distiller shipping to consumers: up to $4,000

Sacramental Wine Exemption

Indiana law carves out a narrow exemption for clergy. A pastor, rabbi, minister, or priest may purchase, possess, and dispense wine for sacramental purposes or religious rites without holding a permit.⁹ Sales of wine to clergy for sacramental or religious use are also exempt from the wine excise tax.¹⁰ The exemption covers individual clergy acting in a religious capacity. It doesn’t extend broadly to religious organizations, and it doesn’t cover beer or spirits.

Federal Rules Also Apply

Shipping alcohol across state lines brings federal law into play. The Federal Alcohol Administration Act requires a federal basic permit for anyone in the business of shipping distilled spirits, wine, or malt beverages in interstate commerce.¹¹ That permit is conditioned on following the law in both the shipping and receiving states. The TTB can suspend or revoke a federal basic permit when a holder ships alcohol into a state in violation of that state’s laws.¹² For a winery shipping into Indiana, that means Indiana’s rules are enforceable through federal licensing in addition to state penalties.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-26-9 – Direct Wine Seller
2
Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission. Advisory Opinion 19-07
3
Legal Information Institute. 905 IAC 2-2-4 – Schedule of Fines and Penalties
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-26-8 – Permit Expiration, Renewal, and Fees
5
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-26-12 – Annual Limit on Sellers Direct Wine Sales in Indiana
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-26-13 – Delivery to Consumer or Individual at Least 21 Years of Age
7
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-4-4-1 – Rate of Tax
8
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-5-11-1.5 – Shipments of Alcoholic Beverages to Residents Without Valid Wholesaler Permits, Violations
9
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-3-1-24 – Religious Exemption
10
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 7.1-4-4-6 – Transactions Exempt From Tax
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 27 USC 203 – Requirements
12
Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Ruling 2000-1 – Direct Shipment Sales of Alcohol Beverages