NEW WORKING GUIDELINES ON EXCISE DUTIES

​On April 10, 2024, the Austrian tax authorities published general working guidelines on excise duties (VS-1000), replacing the previous guidelines dating back more than 20 years.

The guidelines deal with issues relating to mineral oil tax, tobacco tax, alcohol tax and beer tax and systematically set out the formal obligations and procedures for the production and trade of excise goods. The working guidelines also make reference to the amendments that came into force in 2023 in relation to cross-border trade of excise goods. From a practical perspective, the explanations on the following two areas are particularly important:

Procedure for chain transactions

The settlement of chain transactions from other Member States to Austria under the tax suspension procedure by the middle entrepreneur (acquirer) is possible by way of a direct delivery for excise duty purposes. For this purpose, the acquirer must have a permanent authorization as a registered consignee and the place of direct delivery must be notified to the customs office when the goods are purchased.

However, it is not possible to carry out such chain transactions under the duty suspension procedure by means of an excise warehouse authorization of the acquirer, as in this case the goods must first physically enter the excise warehouse. However, the acquirer can apply for a registered consignee authorization in addition to his excise warehouse authorization.

It should also be noted that all obligations arising from the duty suspension procedure continue to exist at the level of the acquirer and that these are not transferred to the effective recipient. This applies in particular to the transmission of the confirmation of receipt and the declaration and payment of the excise duty incurred.

 Legal consequences of destruction, irretrievable loss or extermination of goods

 In the event of demonstrable destruction, irretrievable loss or extermination of excise goods, no excise duty liability arises. This applies both to goods under duty suspension arrangements and to goods in free circulation transported between Member States. However, if goods in free circulation have already been taxed in Austria, no claim for an excise duty refund is possible.

With regard to the destruction of goods, the customs administration distinguishes between (i) destruction due to unforeseeable events or force majeure, such as destruction in the context of a traffic accident, (ii) shrinkage in the context of storage or production, (iii) losses in the context of transportation and (iv) destruction and describes the obligations to provide evidence for the individual forms of destruction in the working guideline.