ALBIC - Info Business - Guide on Tax System in Albania

EXCISES

5. GENERAL STATEMENTS

Excises represent taxes with relatively high-level tariffs on the consumption of a given category of goods. Usually, excises apply to:

Products deemed harmful to health;
Goods that pollute environment, and
Luxury goods

The juridical relations regarding excises in the Republic of Albania are regulated by the amended law nr. 8976 of 12.12.2002 “ On excises”. This law regulates the juridical relations regarding the definition of excises, terms, procedures, rights and obligations, which the subjects of excises are liable to, as well as matters that regard regulations for the collection and administration of incomes by the tax organs for goods, subject to excise.

The main group items, which are taxed by excise in the Republic of Albania , are the following:

By-products of oil
Alcoholic beverages
Tobacco and its by-products
Coffee
Fruit juices and refreshments
Cosmetic, perfume and make-up items.

5.1. Administrative Procedures for Excises

Taxable persons are all persons who possess excise goods and are obliged to pay excise.

Taxable persons also include the tax representative of each person, who imports excise taxable goods, authorized according to regulations.

5.1.1. Obligation to possessing an excise authorization and to ask for approval of tax warehouse

Every person who produces excisable goods in the territory of the Republic of Albania or imports commercial goods subject to excise, for approved processing in an approved tax warehouse, is obliged to possess an authorization issued by tax organs.

Every person, who wants to get the authorization to produce and keep excise goods, must specify:

• The production process he will perform;

The quantities of the raw material used to produce ready made products subject to excise;
The losses in production or storage (permissible losses), which will occur in the normal course of economic activity.

Every authorized person, if he seeks to produce or keep excise goods on any territory, building or any other area under tax suspension regime, must first ask the tax organs to approve the use of the territory, building or the other area as a tax warehouse. Approval of a tax warehouse is made annually.

For excise goods requiring a fiscal stamp, the approval of the tax warehouse, in the condition of tax suspension regime, is only made for territories, buildings or other environments, authorized to keep only goods which need to grow older (as is the maturity period for alcohol drinks), goods which are subject to further processing before they are packed for retail sale, as well as goods produced for export, in quantities authorized by tax organs.

• How to Request and Acquire the Excise Authorization and the Tax Warehouse Approval

Each person who asks to be furnished with an excise authorization has to file a request in writing with the tax department where his central office is located.

Every authorized person, who wants to be furnished with a tax warehouse approval, must in any case file a request in writing with the tax department of the district where the tax warehouse for processing and producing excise goods is located.

5.2. List of excisable goods and excise levels

NK code	Description	Tax scale
I	COFFEE
09 01 11 00 09 01 12 00	Un-toasted coffee decaffeinated or not	40 lek/kg
09 01 21 00 09 01 22 00	Toasted coffee decaffeinated or not	80 lek/kg
09 01 90	Coffee shells Coffee substitutes containing coffee	40 lek/kg
21 01 11 21 01 12	Coffee extracts, essences, concentrates, and by-products (Nescafe etc.)	250 lek/kg
II	FRUIT JUICES, WATER AND REFRESHMENTS*
20 09	Unfermented fruit and vegetable juices, with no alcohol contents, containing sweeteners or not.	2 lek/litre
22 02	Mineral or sparkling water, with extra sweeteners or flavours, non-alcoholic refreshments, except fruit juices.	2 lek/litre
III	BEER, WINE, ALCOHOL AND ALCOHOLIC DRINKS
22 03	Beer made of malts	30 lek/litre
22 04	Sparkling wine and wines, champagne, grape juice	20 lek/litre
22 05	Vermouth and other kinds of wines brewed from plants or flavour substances	20 lek/litre
22 06	Other fermented drinks (example: cider, pear cider, hydromel); mixtures of fermented drinks and non-alcoholic drinks mentioned elsewhere	20 lek/litre
22 07 10 00	Non de-naturalized ethylic alcohol with an 80% or higher alcoholic content per volume**	200 lek/litre
22 07 20 00	De-naturalised ethylic alcohol	0
22 08	Alcoholic drinks with alcoholic force by volume 12%***	130 lek/litre
22 08	Alcoholic drinks with alcoholic force by volume till 12%***	30 lek/litre
22 08 20 29	Raki	80 lek/litre
IV	TOBACCO AND ITS BY PRODUCTS
24 02 10 00	Cigars and cigarillos containing tobacco	2 240 lek/kg
24 02 20	Cigarettes containing tobacco**	25 lek/packet
24 02 90	Cigars, cigarillos and cigarettes with tobacco substitutes	2 240 lek/kg
24 03	Other processed tobacco and tobacco substitutes, homogenised or reconstructed tobacco, and tobacco essence	1 500 lek/kg
V	BY-PRODUCT OF OIL
27 10 11 41 27 19 11 45 27 10 11 49 27 10 11 51 27 10 11 59	Light oils (benzene and benzyl) Unleaded benzene and benzyl, with lead content below 0,013 gr/litre • Less than 95 octane • 95-98 octane • 98 and more octane Leaded benzene, with lead content above 0,013 gr/litre • Less than 98 octane • 98 and more octane	33 lek/litre 38 lek/litre
27 10 19 11 up to 27 10 19 29 27 10 19 21	Kerosene Jet fuel, type of kerosene	20 lek/litre 0
27 10 19 31 up to 27 10 19 49	Heavy oils (gasoline)***	65 percentage but not more than 27 lek/litre and not less 13 lek/litre
27 10 19 51 up to 27 10 19 69	Heavy oils as combustible fuels (solar)	1 lek/kg
27 10 19 71 up to 27 10 19 99	other oils	40 lek/kg
27 13 11 00 27 13 12 00	Oil ore calcium or not	1 lek/kg
27 13 20 00	Bitumen oil	5 lek/kg
27 13 90	Remnants of oil and bitumen minerals	5 lek/kg
27 14 90 00	The others (bitumen and natural asphalt; asphalt and asphalt rocks)***	5 lek/kg
27 14	Natural bitumen and asphalt, bitumen sand; asphalt and asphalt stones	5 lek/kg
27 15	Bitumen mixtures based on natural asphalt, on oil bitumen, on mineral tar, or on turpentine of mineral tar.	5 lek/kg
29 01 29 02	Non-cyclic and cyclic Hydrocarbons including (ethylene, benzyl, xylol)	5 lek/kg
VI	COSMETIC ARTICLE, PERFUMES AND BATH LIQUIDS**
33 03 00 10 33 03 00 90 33 07 20 00	Perfumes Bath salts Deodorant	60 % 60 % 60 %

* According to the law No. 9328, Dt. 06.12.2004, “On some amendments and changes on the law no.8976, dt.12.12.2002 “On excises” amended, approved with Fiscal Package 2005 these tariffs are reduced.

** According to the law No.9328, Dt. 06.12.2004, “On some amendments and changes on the law no. 8976, dt.12.12.2002 “On excises” amended, approved with Fiscal Package 2005 these tariffs are increased.

*** According to the law No.9328, Dt. 06.12.2004, “On some amendments and changes on the law no.8976, dt.12.12.2002 “On excises” amended, approved with Fiscal Package 2005 these items have changed in the content and also in the tariff level.

5.3. Exemptions from Excise

Transactions without paying excise are permitted when there is evidence that:

• Excise goods are exported;

• Excisable goods are placed under customs suspension regime;

• Excise goods are imported by diplomatic representatives, accredited in the Republic of Albania ;

• Excise goods are imported by international organizations, in the context of agreements ratified by the Peoples' Assembly, which explicitly state the exemptions from excise payment;

• Excise goods are placed under tax suspension regime.

It is allowed to reimburse the excise paid when there is evidence that:

• Excisable goods are subject of an approved process;

• Excisable goods are exported.

The following goods, which can contain alcohol, are not subject to excise:

• Groceries, whose alcohol content does not exceed the quantity of 8,5 liter of pure alcohol for 100 kg of product;

• Alcoholic flavors and essences

5.4. Excise payment, stamps and their use

The excise for goods subject to excise is paid at the time of import or production of excise goods in the territory of Republic of Albania .

The excise stamp implies a ready made unique strip, which contains one or some of the following indicators:

• The fact that excise on excise goods has been paid;

• The excise tariff already paid

• The sum of excise paid

• The moment of excise payment;

All goods subject to excise should have an excise stamp stuck on the container or on the packet.

Imported excise goods, which need an excise stamp, should have it by the time of import.

The excise stamp must be stuck in a way that it can be easily torn and rendered unsuitable for reuse once the container or packet is open.

5.5. Excise payment for goods that require stamp

Excise payment for goods requiring excise stamp is done through the purchase of excise stamps to an equal value to the mandatory tax to be paid for the quantity or value of excise goods in a package unit, onto which the stamp must be stuck.

Excise payment for excise goods requiring stamp, is done by purchasing the relevant quantity of excise stamps, before goods are imported or taken out for sale from the territories, buildings, houses or other environments authorized for production.

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