Information - Biersteuer; Zahlung - Dienstleistungsportal Bayern

Description

Beer tax is an excise tax levied on beer and beer-mixed drinks. It is unique among excise taxes regulated by federal law: The customs administration, i.e. a federal administration, levies the beer tax, while the revenue is due to the federal states.

The tax arises as soon as the beer is taken from a so-called tax warehouse. A tax warehouse is a place approved by the main customs office where products may be manufactured, processed, stored, received or dispatched. In addition, the tax arises, among other things, when you import beer from a third country.

Amount of beer tax

The amount of beer tax is generally based on the original wort content of the beer. This is measured in degrees Plato. In the case of beer mixtures or flavoured beer, the original wort content of the beer used is the basis for calculating the beer tax. The degree Plato of the finished beverage is calculated from this according to the mixing ratio of the beer content with other components.

The original wort content refers to the proportion of substances dissolved from the malt in the still unfermented wort. These are mainly the malt sugar, but also protein, vitamins, minerals and aromatic substances. During fermentation, with the help of yeast, about one third alcohol, one third carbon dioxide and one third residual extract are produced.

The higher the original wort content, the stronger the beer produced. Most beers in Germany are full beers with an original wort of between 11 and 16 degrees Plato. The alcohol content is between 4.5 and 5.5 percent by volume.
The standard tax rate is EUR 0.787 per hectolitre (hl), i.e. per 100 litres, per degree Plato. The alcohol content is irrelevant.

Example:
If you produce a hectolitre of full beer - for example Pils, Kölsch or Alt - with an original wort content of 12 degrees Plato, EUR 9.44 beer tax is due.
12 x EUR 0.787 = EUR 9.44. Converted to a 0.2-liter glass of beer, this is EUR 0.019 beer tax.

Mixed beer drinks

If you produce beer mixtures or flavored beer, the original wort content of the beer used is also the basis for calculating the beer tax. According to the mixing ratio of the beer content with other ingredients, you can calculate the degree Plato of the finished beverage from this.

The degree Plato of a beer mixture is therefore calculated from the degree Plato of the beer times the hectolitre of beer divided by the hectolitre of the beer mixture.
You can find calculation examples for the beer tax on the website of the customs administration.

Exceptions and reduced tax rates

• Non-alcoholic beer: alcohol content below 0.5% by volume - not subject to beer tax.
• Home brewers: Beer that is distributed free of charge to employees by licensed brewers within the company as home brew is exempt from tax.
• Home and hobby brewers: Beer produced by home and hobby brewers is tax-free up to a quantity of 200 litres per calendar year. The start of production and the place of production must be notified in advance to the competent main customs office. If the aforementioned quantity is exceeded, a tax declaration must be submitted in accordance with the official form and the beer tax must be paid. The reduced tax rate of EUR 0.4407 per hectolitre and degree Plato applies to the taxable quantities.
• Reduced rates: Smaller, legally and economically independent breweries may benefit from reduced beer tax rates for brewed beer if the total annual production is less than 200,000 hectolitres. Depending on the annual production, the standard tax rate can be reduced by up to 44 percent on the basis of a volume scale. The basis for this is the so-called graduated tax rates.

If the reduced graduated tax rates are applied, the standard tax rate is reduced evenly in 1,000 hectolitre increments to

• to 84 percent for an annual production of 40,000 hectoliters,
• to 78.4 percent for an annual production of 20,000 hectoliters,
• to 67.2% for an annual production of 10,000 hectolitres and
• 56 percent for annual production of 5,000 hectoliters.

However, the reduced rates do not apply to mixed beer beverages and flavored beers because they are not produced by the brewing process. This also applies to beer supplied to the tax territory by a foreign independent brewery with a total annual production of less than 200,000 hectolitres. The submission of an official certificate on the previous year's production of the foreign brewery is required.

Calculation beer tax reduced rates

The customs administration uses its own data processing procedure to calculate the beer tax.
On the basis of the data submitted, this program calculates both the amount of beer tax to be paid each month and the untaxed outgoings to EU member states and third countries.
With the help of the data collection, you will receive a tax assessment.

Prerequisites

You must pay beer tax if the tax has arisen and you are liable for the tax within the meaning of the law. This can be the case in various constellations, for example, if

• You are the owner of a tax warehouse from which the products were withdrawn or in which they were consumed,
• you are a "registered consignee" and take the products into your business following their movement under suspension of excise duty, or
• you have been involved in manufacture without the necessary authorisation.

In order to qualify for reduced rates, small breweries must be legally and economically independent of other breweries and their total annual production must be less than 200,000 hectolitres.

Procedure

You must submit the declaration or registration for beer tax in writing:

• If you take beer from a tax warehouse, consume it or are a "registered recipient", you must submit a written tax declaration:
  • Download the form "Beer Tax Declaration" (Form 2076) via the website of the Customs Administration or the Form Management System (FMS) of the Federal Tax Administration.
  • Complete the form in full and send it by post to the Main Customs Office in Stuttgart.
  • The Main Customs Office Stuttgart will check your tax return.
• If these are regular supplies of beer from other European countries and you have a permanent permission to obtain them, you must declare these supplies in a written tax return:
  • To do this, use the form "Monthly tax return/relief declaration for beer" (form 2074).
  • Complete the form in full and send it by post to the main customs office responsible for you.
  • The main customs office checks your tax declaration
    • If discrepancies are discovered during the check, you will be given the opportunity to correct incorrect information or complete incomplete information up to the due date of the levies.
    • If the claim is already due or if you do not correct the information, the main customs office will assess the duties with a tax assessment notice and inform you of this.
    • If the inspection does not lead to any objections, the amount of duty due will normally be collected from your account by direct debit, in which case you do not need to take any further action.
• If the beer tax in connection with irregularities,
  • Manufacture without permission,
  • exceeding the tax-free quantity for home and hobby brewers, or
  • a disregarded prohibition
• you must calculate it yourself and submit a written tax return:
  • Use the form "Tax declaration for beer in individual cases" (Form 2075).
  • Complete the form in full and send it by post to the main customs office responsible for you.
  • The main customs office checks your tax declaration.

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

Deadlines

• You must file the beer tax return (Form 2076) by the 7th day of the month following the month in which the beer tax arose.
• You must file the "Individual Beer Tax Return" (Form 2075) for irregularities or a disregarded prohibition immediately.
• You must file the "Monthly Beer Tax Filing/Relief Filing" (Form 2074) by the 10th day of the month following the month in which the tax arose.

Processing time

Processing usually takes 1 week.

Required documents

• Required Documents

  No documentation is required.

Forms

• Form, Bavaria-wide: Biersteuererklärung (Formular 2076)

  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 Bier im Einzelfall (Formular 2075)

  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: Monatliche Steueranmeldung/Entlastungsanmeldung für Bier" (Formular 2074)

  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

• As a rule, there are no costs for you.
  Late payment surcharges are possible in the event of late payment.

Legal bases

• §§ 1 bis 2 Biersteuergesetz (BierStG)
• §§ 13 bis 16 Biersteuergesetz (BierStG)
• § 18 Biersteuergesetz (BierStG)
• §§ 20 bis 23a Biersteuergesetz (BierStG)
• § 31 Verordnung zur Durchführung des Biersteuergesetzes (BierStV)
• § 33 Verordnung zur Durchführung des Biersteuergesetzes (BierStV)
• § 35 Verordnung zur Durchführung des Biersteuergesetzes (BierStV)
• §§ 37 bis 39a Verordnung zur Durchführung des Biersteuergesetzes (BierStV)
• § 39d Verordnung zur Durchführung des Biersteuergesetzes (BierStV)
• §§ 40 bis 41 Verordnung zur Durchführung des Biersteuergesetzes (BierStV)

Remedy

• Appeal
• Action before the tax court

Links to more information

• Informationen zur Biersteuer auf den Internetseiten des Zolls

Related issues

• Beer products; reporting the transportation of untaxed beer
• Biersteuer; Beantragung der Erlaubnis zum Umgang mit unversteuerten Bierprodukten
• Beer tax; application for refund, remission or allowance