Alcohol tax; payment

If you produce or import alcohol or alcohol-containing goods, you must pay alcohol tax under certain conditions.

Description

Alcohol tax is an excise tax levied on alcohol and alcohol-containing goods. These include

  • Ethyl alcohol,
  • distillates and spirits, for example whiskey or gin,
  • liqueurs or also
  • goods containing alcohol, for example schnapps chocolates with a high alcohol content or rock candy in rum.

As a rule, alcohol may only be produced in Germany in distilleries that are sealed by customs (sealed distilleries). To determine the tax payable, the amount of alcohol produced is measured.

The tax arises as soon as the alcohol is released for free circulation. As a rule, this occurs after extraction by means of a so-called alcohol removal or - insofar as the alcohol is stored in a tax warehouse under tax suspension after extraction - by removal from the tax warehouse. An alcohol tax warehouse is a place approved by the main customs office where alcohol products may be produced, processed, stored, received or dispatched. In addition, the tax arises, among other things, when alcohol is imported into Germany from another country.

The amount of the tax is based on the amount of alcohol contained in the alcohol product. The standard tax rate is EUR 1,303.00 for 100 liters of pure alcohol.

In some cases, reduced tax rates are possible, for example in the case of so-called severance distilling or for small independent capping distilleries that produce no more than 400 liters of pure alcohol in a calendar year. Tax exemptions are possible, among other things, for commercial use in the production of medicines or foodstuffs with a low alcohol content, provided that the relevant legal requirements are met.

Prerequisites

You must pay alcohol tax if the tax has arisen and you are a tax debtor within the meaning of the law. This can be the case in various constellations, in particular if

  • You are the owner of a tax warehouse with a breech distillery in which alcohol is produced,
  • you are the owner of a tax warehouse from which the alcohol products were withdrawn or in which the alcohol products were consumed,
  • you are a "registered consignee" and receive the alcohol products into your establishment following their movement under tax suspension, or
  • you have been involved in the manufacture of alcohol products without the required permit.

Procedure

How you declare the alcohol tax depends on the way in which the tax arises:

  • The total amount of alcohol produced in a breech distillery is officially determined and cleared during a so-called alcohol clearance. If you have the removed quantity of alcohol cleared for free circulation under tax law, the clearance officer will issue a tax notice.

  • If you otherwise remove alcohol products from a tax warehouse, consume them in the warehouse, or receive alcohol products into your business as a "registered consignee" following their movement under tax suspension, you must calculate the tax yourself and file a written tax return:

    • Download the following form from the Customs Administration's website or the Federal Tax Administration's Form Management System (FMS):

      • "Monthly Tax Return/Relief Declaration for Alcohol Products" (Form 1272).
      • "Attachment to Monthly Tax Declaration/Relief Declaration for Alcohol Products" (Form 1278).
    • Fill out the forms completely and mail them to your main customs office.

    • The main customs office will review your tax return.

    • If any discrepancies are discovered during the check, you will be given the opportunity to correct any incorrect or incomplete information up to the due date of the tax; if the claim is already due or if you do not correct the information, the Main Customs Office will assess the tax with a tax assessment notice and inform you of this.

    • If the inspection does not lead to any objections, the amount of duty due is normally collected from your account by direct debit - in these cases you do not need to take any further action.

  • If the alcohol tax has arisen in connection with irregularities or a disregarded prohibition, you must also calculate it yourself and submit a written tax declaration:

    • Use the form "Individual Alcohol Tax Return" (Form 1276) for this purpose.
    • The other procedural steps are the same as those for monthly filing.
  • If you are importing alcohol products from a third country, submit the tax declaration as part of the customs declaration. For this purpose, you declare the excise duty information in the customs declaration ("Single Administrative Document", Form 0737), if necessary also using a "Declaration of Excise Duty Information" (Form 0467).

The responsible customs office is the main customs office from whose district you operate your business or, if you do not operate a business, in whose district you are domiciled. If your business is operated from a location outside Germany or if you do not have a residence in Germany, the main customs office in whose district you first appear for tax purposes is locally responsible.

Deadlines

Submission of the tax return:

  • In the case of withdrawal from a tax warehouse: by the 10th day of the month following the month in which the tax arose.

Payment of the tax:

  • in the case of capped distilleries: no later than 7 days after the tax assessment is notified to you
  • in case of withdrawal from a tax warehouse: by the 5th day of the 2nd month following the accrual of the tax
  • if the tax arises because a prohibition has been disregarded: immediately

Processing time

  • usually 1 week
  • Exception: if an official alcohol acceptance is carried out, the tax assessment is issued directly.

Required documents

  • Required Documents

    • none

Forms

  • Form, Bavaria-wide: Monatliche Steueranmeldung/Entlastungsanmeldung für Alkoholerzeugnisse (Formular 1272)
    Please note

    This form has to be signed and sent to the responsible authority. You can sign the form manually and send it by email/fax or sign the form electronically with your qualified electronic signature an send it by (secure) email. If the responsible authority has set up a De-Mail account, you can also send the form by De-Mail using an sender-confirmed message.

  • Form, Bavaria-wide: Anlage zur monatlichen Steueranmeldung/Entlastungsanmeldung für Alkoholerzeugnisse (Formular 1278)
    Please note

    This form has to be signed and sent to the responsible authority. You can sign the form manually and send it by email/fax or sign the form electronically with your qualified electronic signature an send it by (secure) email. If the responsible authority has set up a De-Mail account, you can also send the form by De-Mail using an sender-confirmed message.

  • Form, Bavaria-wide: Steueranmeldung für Alkoholerzeugnisse (Alkohol und alkoholhaltige Waren) im Einzelfall (Formular 1276)
    Please note

    This form has to be signed and sent to the responsible authority. You can sign the form manually and send it by email/fax or sign the form electronically with your qualified electronic signature an send it by (secure) email. If the responsible authority has set up a De-Mail account, you can also send the form by De-Mail using an sender-confirmed message.

  • Form, Bavaria-wide: Anmeldung der Angaben über Verbrauchsteuern (Formular 0467)
    Please note

    This form has to be signed and sent to the responsible authority. You can sign the form manually and send it by email/fax or sign the form electronically with your qualified electronic signature an send it by (secure) email. If the responsible authority has set up a De-Mail account, you can also send the form by De-Mail using an sender-confirmed message.

Fees

    • none
    • in the event of late payment: late payment penalties in accordance with Section 240 (1) of the German Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung)

Remedy

  • Objection.
    Detailed information on how to file an objection can be found in your tax assessment.
  • Action before the Tax Court

Status:09.05.2023

Responsible for editing:Bundesministerium der Finanzen

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