Can your winery ship wine to Illinois?

Illinois DTC wine shipping requirementsCan a winery ship wine directly to consumers in Illinois?Yes. And more than one registration: (1) ILCC Winery Shipper's License; (2) Illinois Dept. of Revenue liquor gallonage tax account (Form RL-26-W); (3) IDOR Use Tax registration, or Retailers' Occupation Tax registration if otherwise required; (4) City of Chicago Liquor Tax registration if shipping to Chicago consumers. Volume limits apply; the exact cap is in the table below. Sales tax applies. Last verified 2026-08-01 against primary sources; next review due 2026-10-30.

DTC shipping

Generally permitted

Permit required

Yes - and more than one registration: (1) ILCC Winery Shipper's License; (2) Illinois Dept. of Revenue liquor gallonage tax account (Form RL-26-W); (3) IDOR Use Tax registration, or Retailers' Occupation Tax registration if otherwise required; (4) City of Chicago Liquor Tax registration if shipping to Chicago consumers

Licence

Winery Shipper's License

Application fee

Three volume tiers, two columns. Initial license (or non-online renewal): under 250,000 gallons $350; 250,000 or over but under 500,000 gallons $1,000; 500,000 gallons or over $1,500. Online renewal: $200 / $750 / $1,200 respectively.

Bond required

Yes - and it reaches an out-of-state DTC wine shipper by name. The bond is a Department of Revenue registration condition, not an ILCC licensing condition: IDOR's Schedule REG-1-A names 'liquor distributors, winery shippers and airlines' as the three categories that must file a bond to complete liquor tax registration. Amount is two times the company's average monthly liability, minimum $1,000, maximum $100,000, filed on Form REG-4-A (surety bond) or Form REG-4-D (irrevocable letter of credit). The ILCC itself requires no bond for the Winery Shipper's License.

Volume cap

Not more than 12 cases of wine per year to any Illinois resident 21 years of age or older, for personal use and not for resale. No monthly sub-limit, no production-size tier, no state aggregate cap. 'Case' is not defined anywhere in the Liquor Control Act.

Sales tax

Yes

State sales-tax rate

6.25% state rate on general merchandise. Which tax it is depends on volume: Illinois Use Tax at 6.25% state-only for a winery shipper below the remote-retailer thresholds; destination-based Retailers' Occupation Tax (6.25% state + local) once a threshold is met.

Excise tax

Yes - the winery shipper itself pays the state liquor gallonage tax; there is no Illinois wholesaler in a DTC sale to absorb it

Excise rate

$1.39 per gallon for wine of 20% ABV or less. Full schedule, in Illinois' own unit (per gallon), no conversion: $0.231 per gallon - cider, ABV 0.5% to 7%; $1.39 per gallon - alcoholic liquor other than beer, ABV 14% or less; $1.39 per gallon - alcoholic liquor, ABV more than 14% and less than or equal to 20%; $8.55 per gallon - alcoholic liquor, ABV more than 20%; $0.231 per gallon - beer, regardless of ABV.

Shipment reports

SEMI-ANNUAL to the Illinois Liquor Control Commission - the total number of cases per resident of wine shipped to Illinois residents. The monthly shipment report is the CARRIER's duty, filed with the Department of Revenue, not the winery's. A third-party fulfilment provider files its own ANNUAL statement with the ILCC by February 1.

Record retention

3 years

Approved carriers

Illinois publishes no approved-carrier list and does not license alcohol carriers. Any express company, common carrier or contract carrier may deliver, provided it obtains the 21+ signature at the delivery address and files the monthly consignor/consignee report with the Department of Revenue required by 235 ILCS 5/8-12.

Regulator

Illinois Liquor Control Commission

Last verified

2026-08-01

Next review due

2026-10-30

Verified 2026-08-01 by primary-source audit against 29 primary sources; next review due 2026-10-30. How we verify.

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