Excise duties
Excise duties are indirect taxes levied by states on certain products such as alcoholic beverages and other products such as tobacco or certain petroleum products.
Designate RMB as your excise tax representative.
Our mission:
- File the excice duties declaration,
- Calculate the excise duties,
- Pay excise duties to the Authorities,
- Keep an accounting of your operations,
- Communicate with the Administration.
Fiscal representation through RMB, acting as your fiscal representative abroad
We assist your company by being your Fiscal representative in all 28 EU Member States + Switzerland and Norway. Our terms and conditions for Fiscal representation are clear, our pricing is fair and there are no hidden costs.
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Contact usExcise duty, what is that?
Their rate differ according to the products and the countries. In general, the higher the alcohol percentage, the higher the excise duties on these products. Each Member State is free to set the amount of excise duty as it wishes. Thus, with regard to sales of wine, some countries have decided not to apply excise duties, such as Spain or Germany, while others have decided to levy duties on this product, such as Belgium or Denmark.
You can find more information on website of the European Commission which lists the excise duties applicable to each alcoholic drink in each country.
How does it work?
The sale of alcoholic beverages to private customers domiciled in other EU countries are classified as distance sales. These sales comply with relatively harmonized rules within the Member States. These rules provide that excise duties are paid at the place of consumption of the products.
The rules in all Member States impose the seller to appoint an excise tax representative whose mission will consist of:
- Declare the arrival of products subject to excise duty in the country of destination,
- Calculate the excise duties due in this country according to the locally applicable rates,
- Pay the excise duties in the country of destination to the local Customs Administration,
- Keep an accounting of the operations and keep it at the disposal of the Administration,
- Produce any document, information, explanation requested by the Administration as part of a control carried out by the Administration,
- Bear personal responsibility for any offense, irregularity or fraud committed by the representative or the representee.
Implications of VAT
The sale of alcoholic beverages from one EU Member State to private consumers in another EU Member State (distance selling) is subject to VAT as well as excise duties on each product sold, and this from the 1st sale. Thus, unlike the normal rules for distance sales, the country threshold does not apply to alcohol sales. Thus, your company has the obligation, from the first sale, to apply the VAT of the country of destination and also to pay the excise duties in this country of destination per unit of product or bottle shipped.
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The mechanism for distance sales of alcoholic beverages theoretically implies that the goods are released for consumption in the country of departure before being shipped to the country of destination. This principle thus amounts to paying the excise duties applied in the country of departure, then, as indicated above, to pay them in the country of destination at the rate applicable in that country.
Then, once the operator is able to prove that he has paid excise duties in the country of destination, he can claim reimbursement of the duties he has paid in the country of departure.
RMB is the first company in France to obtain "new formula" accreditation from the French Customs Authorities. This approval required obtaining an unlimited bank guarantee from our Bank.
