Excise Duties in European Union. Relevant National Case Law

• Author: Mihaela Tofan
• Profession: Alexandru Ioan Cuza' University of Iasi, Romania
• Pages: 133-146

Excise Duties in European Union. Relevant National Case-Law

Associate professor Mihaela TOFAN

1

Abstract

Excise duty is an indirect tax category, particu larly important due to the

economic impact it has on the public budget. EU harmonized excise duties represent

special consumption fees that are due to the state budget for certain products, derived

from domestic production or imported. In the area of regulation concerning sub stantive

law on excise duties, EU law co ntains harmonized rules, mainly through directives.

Accordingly to the transposition right into national law, each Member State has its o wn

regulations in the field, resulting a very diverse legal framework. Especially in the rules

of procedure, we notice considerable differences on the perception and payment of these

tax liabilities, as demonstrated by the consistent jurisprudence. This paper shows the

influence of the jurisprudence of the EUCJ on the interpretation of the rules of law

applicable in the field.

Keywords: excise duty, harmonized rules, national case-law, EUCJ influence .

JEL Classification: K34, K41

1. The notion of excise duty in the European Union

Excises are special consumption fees that are due to the state budget for

the production, importation or sale of certain product categories.

2

Typically,

amounts collected during the procedure of collecting excise duty constitute reve-

nue to the state budget, situations likewise regulated by the Fiscal Code in Roma-

nia. The adoption of uniform rules on excise duties and excise goods in the

EU is made relatively difficult. The impediments came from the significant dif-

ferences that exist among the regulation of these indirect taxes in the Member

States and because of the particular position that those taxes hold in the domestic

taxation. In general, the government program of each state includes the view of

the central administration on the amount of excise duty and the excise goods, a

claim that partly motivates the vote of confidence of the electorate. When regu-

lating a uniform tax, the legislative must consider and meet the needs related to

the program of measures of the government and the short term interest of the

leading local and central public administration.

1

Mihaela Tofan – „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, Romania, E-mail: mtofan@uaic.ro.

2

D. Drosu Şaguna, M. Tofan, Drept financiar şi fiscal european, Ed. C.H. Beck, Bucharest, 2010,

p. 203 ff.