PRODUCTS SUBJECT TO EXCISE DUTY

Excise duties are indirect taxes levied on certain products: alcohol, tobacco and energy products.

This tax must be paid to the competent authorities in the territory of consumption.

Within the European Union, products subject to excise duty can be stored and transported under duty suspension arrangements, so that payment of this tax is deferred as close as possible to the consumer.

In order to manage this type of product, approval must be obtained from the customs authorities (indirect taxation department) to allow storage and movement of these products. An excise number is then issued.

• For storage: each site likely to receive such goods must be approved.
• For transport: an accompanying document must be issued using the ‘EMCS-Gamma’ or ‘Gamma2’ online services available on the ‘douane.gouv.fr’ customs website.

EMCS (Excise Movement and Control System) is the European project to computerise the monitoring of movements of products under suspension of excise duty within the European Union using an electronic accompanying document.

Gamma (Management and Support of Accompanied Goods Movements) is the French version.

This will involve either:

• An EAD (Electronic Administrative Document): in the case of duty-suspended movement on national territory, on intra-Community territory, whether the goods are destined for the national or intra-Community market, whether they arrive from a third country (import) or are destined for a third country (export).
• A SAD (Simplified Accompanying Document) or SSSD (Simplified Sales Support Document): for duty-paid traffic within France.
• A SEAD (Simplified Electronic Administrative Document): in the case of duty-paid movement within the Community.

Note that the RRC capsule (Representative Rights Capsule) is a French speciality. Affixed to bottles of wine, it is equivalent to a duty-paid movement document, but only on French territory and on condition that the information (e.g. ‘bottles with RRC caps’) is indicated on the commercial documents accompanying the goods.

Stock records must be kept and declared on a monthly basis: the MRD (Monthly Recapitulative Declaration). This declaration must be submitted via the online service ICO (Indirect Contributions Online) by the 10th of the following month at the latest.

A declaration of physical stocks must be made annually: the AID (Annual Inventory Declaration).

As an approved alcohol storage company, our ‘alcohol management’ experts can help you with your transport plans and offer you storage for your goods. Please do not hesitate to contact us.