REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
THE ASSEMBLY
LAW
No. 8976, dated 12.12.2002
ON EXCISE DUTIES IN THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
Based on Articles 78, 83, item (1) and 155 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, under the proposal of the Council of Ministers,
THE ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA
DECIDED:
CHAPTER I
Article 1
Scope
This law regulates the legal relationships, regarding the setting of excise duty rates, criteria, procedures, rights and obligations to which excise businesses should comply with, as well as issues related with the rules of collection and management of the revenue on products subject to excise duty.
Article 2
Definition
For the purpose of this Law, the following words have the following meanings:
1. “Alcohol”2. “Excise duty”
3. “ Distilling apparatus”
4. “Processed tobacco
products”
5. “Excise authorisation”
6. “Beer”
7. “Cigarette”
8. “Fuel Depot”
9. “Export”
10. “Evasion”
11. “Approved guarantee”
12. “LPG”
13. “CN code”
14. “Fuel”
15. “Tax warehouse”
16. “Excise goods”
17. “Oil By-Products”
18. “Commercial consignment”
19. “Packaging unit”
20 “Packet”
21. “Person” / Ethyl alcohol classified under CN code 22.07 and 22.08;
Excise duty charged by this Act on goods listed under Schedule 1 of this Act;
Distilling apparatus is the one where the process of distilling is developed and includes all the parts of distilling, as the cooler and the plate (closed-spirit receiver) where the finished product comes out.
Cigarettes, cigars and other processed tobacco products ready for consumption;
An authorisation issued to an excise taxpayer by the Tax Authority;
Any product falling within CN code 22.03, or any product containing a mixture of beer with non-alcoholic drinks with an actual alcoholic strength by volume exceeding 0.5%;
Any rolls of tobacco capable of being smoked as they are and not falling within the definition of a cigar;
The land, buildings, storage tanks or other areas approved as a tax warehouse under the provisions of Article 5 of this Law in relation to the storage of unpacked oil by-products produced in the Republic of Albania;
The removal of excise goods for consumption outside of the Republic of Albania;
Acting or non-acting, in contravention of duties or obligations imposed under this Law or Regulations made under this Law with the intention of understating the excise duty liability or overstating the entitlement to credit or refund of excise duty, to cause loss of tax;
Financial security provided by an authorised person for the excise duty relating to any quantity of excise goods held in excise duty suspension;
Petroleum gas stored under pressure in liquefied form, classified under CN code 27.11.12.11. to 27.11 19 00;
The classification number of the product as listed in the Nomenclature of the Customs Tariff;
Distillates of oil by-products as described in Article 38 (4) and Section V of Schedule 1 to this Law;
Any land, building or other places where goods subject to excise duty under the provisions of this Act are approved by the Tax Authority to be produced and/or held under excise duty suspension regimes by an authorised person in the course of his business;
Any goods that are subject to a charge of excise duty;
Products listed under N.C Code and described at Section V of Schedule 1;
Unpacked excise goods that requires further processing before they are ready to be sold in retail as final products;
Any packet, box, bottle, can or other container with the capacity to hold a liquid quantity of 5 litres or less
Any packet or box with the capacity to hold a quantity of 20 cigarettes;
Means any person physical or juridical subject to the provisions of this Law;
22. “Alcoholic drink”
23. “Non-alcoholic drinks”
24. “Brewing”
25. “Producer”
26. “Intermediate product”
27. “Finished goods”
28. “Authorised officer”
29. “Cigar”
30. “Excise duty suspension regime”
31. “Standard scale”
32 . “Excise taxpayer”
33. “Thermometer”
34. “Wine” / Are beverages that are classified under CN code 22.07, 22.08 and that are subject to excise duty under the provisions of this Act;
Waters including aerated waters not exceeding 0.5% alcohol by volume containing added sugar or other sweetening matter or flavours and other non-alcoholic beverages (including non-alcoholic beer) not exceeding 0.5% alcohol by volume classified under CN code 22.02;
Fruit or vegetable juices classified under CN code 20.09;
The process of fermenting barley, malt and other ingredients like lupolo, yeast, and additives to produce beer;
Any person, who produces excise goods liable to excise duty, whether that person is authorised or otherwise;
Intermediate product shall be taken to mean wine notwithstanding that an intermediate product is a product under CN code 22.06;
Excise goods in which the manufacturing process is complete, or only final packaging for retail sale is required;
An officer of the Tax Authority authorised by the Director General (or on behalf of the Director General by the Head of Local Tax Office) to carry out an activity specified in this Act;
(a) A roll of tobacco with an outer wrapper of natural tobacco; or
(b) a roll of tobacco containing predominantly broken or threshed leaf, with a binder of reconstituted tobacco and with an outer wrapper which is of reconstituted tobacco having the normal colour of a cigar and which is fitted spirally; or
(c) a roll of tobacco containing predominantly broken or threshed leaf –
i. with an outer wrapper of reconstituted tobacco having the normal colour of a cigar, and
ii. having a unit weight, exclusive of any detachable filter or mouthpiece of not less than 2.3 grams; and
iii. having a circumference over at least one-third of its length of not less than 34 millimetres.
A tax regime applied to the production, processing, holding and movement of products, excise duty being suspended;
Any fine established as described in the provisions of article 48 of this law.
Any person, authorised or otherwise, carrying on a trade or a business subject to any of the provisions of this Act or which consists of and includes the manufacture, buying, selling, importation, exportation, dealing in or handling of any goods of a class or description which is subject to excise duty (whether or not the excise duty is chargeable on the goods);
Means a measuring device which is approved for use under the provisions of this Act and any Regulations made under this Act;
Any beverage that is classified under CN code 22.04 22.05 and 22.06.
35. “Fuel Substitute” / Any liquid which is used as a fuel (not being a mineral oil) in accordance with Article 38 of this Act;
36. “Fiscal representative” / A person who acts on behalf of an importer of excise goods in respect of the importation of those goods and is appointed by a person who does not have a permanent establishment in the Republic of Albania.
CHAPTER II
Article 3
Person liable to pay excise duty
(1) For the purposes of this Law, the person who is liable to pay the excise duty due on excise goods is the person who is in possession of the excise goods and that is liable to pay for those under Article 22 of this Law
(2) A person liable to pay the excise duty due is also considered the authorised fiscal representative of any person who imports goods subject to excise duty, authorised under Article 7 of this Law.
(3) If the person specified in paragraph (1) of this Article fails to pay the excise duty due on any excise goods, any person who is concerned in the import or production or concerned in the holding of those excise goods at any time before the excise duty has been paid shall pay the excise duty.
Article 4
Requirement for an excise authorisation
(1) Any person who produces excise goods in the territory of the Republic of Albania, or imports commercial consignments of excise goods, subject to excise duty, for approved processing in an approved tax warehouse, must be authorised by the Tax Authority. The Tax Authority may issue an authorisation to a person annually, and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by the Minister of Finance.
(2) A person authorised by the Tax Authority may produce and hold at the tax warehouse under the provisions of Article 5 of this Law in relation to him, only excise goods described in the authorisation which are produced in the Republic of Albania by him; or which are imported in commercial consignments for further processing under excise duty suspension regimes.
(3) A person entitled under paragraph (2) of this Article to hold any quantity of excise goods in the tax warehouse without payment of excise duty may also without payment of excise duty carry out on that land, buildings or other areas such operations on the excise goods held as may be authorised by the Tax Authority.
(3/1) Any person that imports malt and it is not authorized as a producer of beer, is required to have an authorization from the General Taxation Department. The Minister of Finance defines by means of instruction the rules for placing of a guarantee prior to the importation of malt, regarding the necessary documentation and returning of the guarantee.
(4) The person applying for an authorisation under this Article to produce and hold excise goods must specify;
- the production process to be undertaken;
- the quantities of raw materials used to produce the finished excise goods;
- losses in production or holding that will be incurred in the normal course of business within those limits specified in Regulations issued by the Minister of Finance under this Act, within the standards and technical rates.
(5) The Tax Authority may issue an authorisation to a person under this Article to produce more than one excise goods and hold quantities of each excise goods under excise duty suspension regimes subject to such conditions as may be prescribed in Regulations issued by the Minister of Finance under this Law.
(6) The Tax Authority makes an administrative charge of 10,000 Lek for issuing any authorisation under this Article.
(7) This Article shall not apply to private individuals producing raki for personal consumption by himself and his immediate family with each quantity not exceeding five litres of raki in each process and not exceeding one hundred litres of raki in total in any calendar year; for private individuals making wine for personal consumption by himself and his immediate family with each quantity not exceeding two hundred litres of wine in total in any calendar year;
Article 5
Request for approval of a tax warehouse
(1) Any person authorised under Article 4 of this Law who wishes to produce or hold excise goods under excise duty suspension regimes on any land, buildings or other areas must have the land, buildings or other areas approved by the Tax Authority as a tax warehouse. The approval is valid for one year.
(2) For excise goods that are subject to the requirement to bear banderols, a tax warehouse approval will only allow those goods to be held under excise duty suspension regimes on those land, buildings or other areas where the excise goods are subject to an ageing process such as a maturing period for certain alcoholic beverages, or are to be subject to further processing before being packaged for retail sale, or are being manufactured for export in a quantity authorised by the Tax Authority.
(3) Save as the Tax Authority otherwise allows, an approval to hold excise goods under excise duty suspension regime will only be granted provided that the excise duty chargeable in respect of excise goods of any class or description is secured by an approved guarantee issued by a guaranteeing institute approved by the Bank of Albania.
(4) Where the application relates to the production of distillates of mineral oil, alcohol, alcoholic drinks, wine or beer the application must include a list and description of all utensils, stills, boilers, mash-tubs, fermenting-tuns, coolers, closed spirit-receivers or other vessels or machinery that are intended to be placed on or in any land, buildings or other areas or that are on the land, buildings or other areas at the time of application.
(5) No authorisation shall be granted for carrying on any business subject to excise duty until after a survey has been made by an authorised officer of the Tax Authority of the land, buildings or other areas in which the business is to be carried on and the officer has certified in writing that the application, descriptions, models, diagrams and drawings correctly represent the land, buildings or other areas, and that all relevant provisions of this Law and Regulation issued by the Minister of Finance under this Law, have been complied with in respect of the place or land, buildings or other areas.
(6) An approved tax warehouse may not store in the same place excise goods under excise duty suspension regime and excise goods on which the excise duty has been paid. An approved tax warehouse may not store raw materials in the same place as excise goods being produced, stored under excise duty suspension regime or in the storage area for excise goods on which the excise duty has been paid and the prior authorisation of the Tax Authority must be given where any raw materials are removed other than to production.
(7) The Tax Authority makes an administrative charge of 10,000 Lek for issuing any authorisation under this Article.