In Estonia, excise duty is payable on alcohol, tobacco products, fuel, and electricity, as well as packaging.
Excise duty on alcohol is added to the alcohol produced in Estonia, brought to Estonia from another European Union (EU) Member State, or imported to Estonia for free circulation. Alcohol includes beer, wine, distilled beverages, intermediate products, and other alcohol (spirits).
Alcohol is revenue stamped if the obligation to pay excise duty on the alcohol in Estonia arises. Alcohol with an ethanol content of more than 22 per cent by volume which is bottled in sales packaging with a volume of at least 0.05 litres must be revenue stamped. A revenue stamp is a special marking in conformity with special security requirements which is affixed to excise goods or the sales packaging thereof and which certifies that excise duty has been paid.
Excise duty on tobacco is added to the tobacco products produced in Estonia, brought to Estonia from another European Union (EU) Member State, or imported to Estonia for free circulation. The tobacco products subject to excise duty include cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, smoking tobacco, tobacco liquids, solid tobacco substitutes, and alternative tobacco products.
A tobacco product is revenue stamped if the obligation to pay excise duty on the product in Estonia arises. If the sales packaging of cigarettes is covered with a transparent wrapping, the revenue stamp shall be affixed directly to the sales packaging beneath the transparent wrapping. The revenue stamp shall be affixed to the sales packaging of alternative tobacco products in such a way that the revenue stamp is visible without opening the sales packaging. A revenue stamp is a special marking in conformity with special security requirements which is affixed to excise goods or the sales packaging thereof and which certifies that excise duty has been paid.
Excise duty on fuel and electricity is added to various different liquid fuels, solid fuels, natural gas, and electricity. In certain sectors, it is permitted to use fuels marked with fiscal markers which are subject to a lower-than-usual excise duty rate. For handling fuel released for consumption (i.e. taxed with excise duty), registration in the register of economic activities is generally required, and a security must be submitted for selling such fuel.
Excise duty on packaging is applied on the packaging of goods marketed in Estonia, the packaging of the goods purchased from another Member State, and the packaging of imported goods, if the goods are sold, exchanged, transferred for free, or used for own consumption in Estonia. Packaging means a product made of any material that is used for enveloping, protecting, handling, delivering, or presenting goods during the life cycle of the goods: from raw material to a finished product and from the manufacturer to the consumer. Disposable packaging used for the same purpose is also deemed packaging.
In Estonia, excise duty is collected by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Advice on any issues related to excise duty can be asked from the specialists of the field and the officials of the excise centre, whose contact details can be found on the website of the Tax and Customs Board.
Revenue stamping is primarily regulated by the Alcohol, Tobacco, Fuel and Electricity Excise Duty Act and the Packaging Excise Duty Act.
Permits and registrations required for operating
In some cases, different permits and registrations are required for the handling of excise goods. Excise goods can be handled under an excise suspension arrangement or released for consumption.
Excise warehousekeeper means a person authorised to produce, store, and receive excise goods in an excise warehouse and to dispatch excise goods from the excise warehouse under an excise supervision arrangement within Estonia, as well as between the EU Member States. The permission to operate is granted by an excise warehouse activity licence. The requirements for the activity licence can be found from the website of the Tax and Customs Board.
The registered consignee is a person who has been granted the right to receive excise goods transported from another Member State under an excise suspension arrangement for commercial purposes. The requirements for the activity licence can be found from the website of the Tax and Customs Board.
As a registered consignor, it is possible to dispatch goods from Estonia under an excise suspension arrangement in the trade between EU Member States. The activity licences are applied for and granted by the Tax and Customs Board separately for each dispatch (import and the following consignment). The requirements for the activity licence can be found from the website of the Tax and Customs Board.
In certain cases, excise goods can be delivered exempt from the excise duty, for which a permit for exemption from the excise duty must be applied for in advance. The permits for exemption from excise duty include the permit for exemption from excise duty on alcohol and the permit for exemption from excise duty on energy.
- In order to receive excise goods which have been released for consumption in another Member State (revenue stamped) in Estonia for commercial purposes, the commercial undertaking must be registered as a certified consignee.
- In order to dispatch excise goods from Estonia to another Member State for commercial purposes, the commercial undertaking must be registered as a certified consignor.
The registration can be applied for in the e-MTA e-service environment by selecting ‘Taxes’ – ‘Delivery notes of EU excise goods (EMCS)’ from the menu after logging in.
Registration as a certified person allows submitting the delivery notes of excise goods in the EMCS, as well as the notices of the receipt of the delivery notes accompanying the goods from another country. Further information is available on the website of the Tax and Customs Board.
For handling fuel released for consumption (i.e. taxed with excise duty), registration in the register of economic activities is generally required, and a security must also be submitted for selling such fuel.
Applying excise duty
An excise duty liability generally arises upon the goods being released for consumption, for example upon being released from the excise warehouse to consumption, upon delivery or importing to Estonia from another Member State outside of the excise suspension arrangement.
The obligation to pay excise duty must be complied with by persons who are excise duty payers. Those persons must calculate the amount of the excise duty payable, submit an excise duty return, and pay the excise duty by the due date. The period of taxation is usually one calendar month and the excise duty liability which has arisen in the course of the month must be declared and paid by the 20th day of the following calendar month at the latest.
The excise duty obligation which has arisen from the goods released for consumption dispatched from another EU Member State must be paid and declared within 5 days after receipt.
The excise duty rates applicable in Estonia can be found from the website of the Tax and Customs Board from the section of alcohol, tobacco products, fuel and electricity, and packaging, respectively.
The movement of excise goods is based on delivery documents. SADHES is the domestic electronic excise delivery document management system where it is possible to draw up delivery notes for an excise suspension arrangement (A) or release for consumption (T).
For the movement of released stamped goods under an excise suspension arrangement between EU Member States, a delivery note must be drawn up in the EMCS delivery document system.
Excise duty refunds
Excise duty is refunded to a person who dispatched excise goods released for consumption in Estonia to another Member State if:
- the delivery note of the excise goods has been submitted to the Tax and Customs Board in the EMCS before dispatching the excise goods to another Member State;
- an application for an excise duty refund has been submitted to the Tax and Customs Board in the EMCS;
- the excise goods have been delivered to another Member State which is confirmed by a notice of the receipt of the excise goods sent via the EMCS.
Excise duty refunds are processed by the Tax and Customs Board.