Excise duties

Scope

The following products are subject to harmonised excise duties: ethyl alcohol and alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, energy products (e.g. unleaded petrol, diesel oil, gas, coal) and electricity.

Chargeability

Excise duties are due when excise goods are released for consumption (e.g. imported into Romania, taken out of an excise duty suspension regime).

Excise duty suspension arrangements

Excisable products can be produced, transformed, held and received under a duty suspension arrangement only in a tax warehouse, which should have prior approval from the tax authorities.


Excisable products can be held under excise duty suspension arrangement, but only in:
-    Tax warehouses of authorised warehouse keepers for the production of energetic products and by their affiliated parties, within a limit of eight storage tax warehouses.
-    Tax warehouses situated near airports, destined exclusevly for fueling airplanes, based on certificates issued by the competent authority.
-    Tax warehouses of warehouse keepers authorised for the production of cigarettes which hold a market share greater than 5% and their affiliates, within a limit of two storage tax warehouses.

Such excisable products can also be received from suppliers within the EU under excise duty suspension arrangements by registered consignees.

Romanian tax warehouse keepers are deemed authorised for the intra-community movement of excisable products under excise duty suspension arrangements.

Excisable products can also be dispatched under duty suspension arrangements after being released for free circulation by the registered consignor (this also applies for the holder of a single authorisation for a simplified customs clearance procedure).

The movement of these excisable products under a duty suspension arrangement has to be made based on the electronic accompanying administrative document (e-AD).

The production, holding and movement of excisable products under duty suspension arrangements are subject to a guarantee.

Exemptions

Ethyl alcohol and other alcoholic products are exempt from the payment of excise duties if they are denatured, used in nutritional, pharmaceuticals or cosmetics industry. There are also exemptions for ethyl alcohol and other alcoholic beverages when used in a manufacturing process provided that the final product does not contain alcohol or when used as samples for analysis, for necessary production tests, or for scientific purposes.

The excise duty exemption for alcohol products and energy products can in some cases be granted directly based on an end-user licence or indirectly through reimbursement/compensation.

Some energy products subject to movement control can be purchased to be used for the purposes excepted from excise duty, provided that an end-user authorisation is obtained and the payment of excise duties is secured.

The guarantee required for movement under duty suspension arrangements may be lodged by the transporter or carrier, by the owner of excise goods or by the consignee; or jointly by two or more persons involved in the movement of the excise goods (e.g. the consignor and the transporter of the goods).

Excise duty reimbursement

In some cases, traders can claim a refund of the excise duties paid (e.g. excise duty paid for goods released for consumption in Romania, but intended for consumption in other Member States; excise duties paid for goods released for consumption and then returned to the production tax warehouse for recycling, reprocessing or destruction; excise duties paid for goods acquired from the EU or imported and then returned to the suppliers).

Special legal requirements

Before being released for consumption in Romania, spirit-based beverages and tobacco products have to be marked with duty stamps. The responsibility for such marking lies with the tax warehouse keepers, registered consignees and importers releasing such goods for consumption.

The level of the excise duties has risen for:

-    fermented still beverages, other than beer and wines, from EUR 0/hl to EUR 100/hl of product;
-    intermediary products from EUR 65 to EUR 165/hl;

Holding a market share smaller than 5% results in the repeal of the tax warehouse authorisation for warehouse keepers authorised for the production of cigarettes.

For cigarettes, the excise duty owed is equal to the sum of the specific excise duty and the ad-valorem excise duty. The specific excise duty expressed in EUR/1,000 cigarettes is annually determined based on the ponderate medium retail price, the legal percentage related to the ad-valorem excise duty and the total excise duty.

As of 1 July 2010 the level of the minimum excise duty for cigarettes has risen from 91% to 96%.

The minimum quantity for receiving authorisation as tax warehouse keeper for small producers of still wine has risen from 200 hl to 1,000 hl.

Companies selling fuel in gas stations have to register with the tax authorities.

Scope

Starting with 1 April 2010 the other excisable products are green coffee, roasted coffee (including coffee with substitutes) and soluble coffee (including blends with soluble coffee).

The excise duty for coffee will be decrease to nil by 2011.

Chargeability

Excise duties are due when the actual reception takes place, for the excisable products received from EU.

For imports of excisable goods, the importers holding single European authorisations for simplified customs clearance procedures issued by another EU Member State have to file a VAT and Excise Duties declaration with the customs authorities. Excise duties will be due at the date when the import declaration is registered.

Exemptions

Excise duty exemption applies in this case, provided the excisable products are exported or placed under a suspensive customs regime.

Companies performing exports or intracomunity supplies of coffee may benefit from the refund of the excise duty paid for the coffee used as raw materials.

Traders purchasing coffee are entitled to a refund of the excise duties paid, if the products are exported, supplied to another EU Member State or returned unchanged to thesupplier.