Excise tax on vodka: purpose, interest, rates

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-02 13:48

The beginning of last year was associated with the updating of legislation in the field of special fees in relation to the production and sale of alcoholic products. In particular, the excise tax on vodka. The most unpleasant news was another increase in rates. What is their size today? What are the terms and conditions for paying these payments today? We will answer these and related important questions later in the article.

What is meant?

First, let's figure out what the excise tax on vodka is. This is the name of the duty established by the state in relation to manufacturers of alcohol, tobacco products and other excisable items. This excise is internal. That is, it is valid only on the territory of the Russian Federation.

It is important to note that excises on vodka and other alcoholic beverages are included in the final cost of production. That is, the consumer pays for them. The amount of excise tax is not allocated for products sold at retail.

In the Russian Federation, excises began to operate in 1991. They are based on three main elements:

• Tax base.
• Betstaxation.
• Excisable object.

Pros and cons

Why are these specialized duties necessary? They are the source of funds for the state budget. And quite reliable, since excises are levied on products that are in demand among citizens. At the same time, excises on vodka are one of the instruments of social policy. By raising them, the state seeks to reduce the prevalence of such a problem as alcoholism.

But at the same time, an increase in excise taxes also leads to obvious problems:

• Illegally imported alcohol is on the rise.
• The volumes of low-quality (and sometimes harmful to he alth and life-threatening) alcoholic products are increasing.

Collection value

Excises on alcoholic products in many states are decisive. Compared to many other tax collections, they bring a very high income. As for excise taxes on vodka, they are the highest among the rates for alcoholic products. The reason is the strength of the drink.

At the same time, increased excise taxes on vodka should encourage producers to reduce the volume of preparation of this product, to switch to the production of less strong alcoholic beverages. And consumers should refuse to buy vodka in favor of less harmful alcohol products.

As for the level of rates (we will discuss them below), excise taxes on alcohol have not yet increased since 2017.

What are excise taxes on?

Let's analyze in detail what the state excise tax on vodka applies to:

• Sale of alcoholic products by the manufacturer within the Russian Federation.
• The transfer of alcohol by producers to the authorized capital of the company.
• Sale of alcohol confiscated from owners by court order.
• Export of alcoholic beverages outside the Russian Federation.

Who pays?

Note that companies that sell alcohol in bulk are not payers of excise duty on alcoholic products. It is withheld from the following persons:

• Enterprises and organizations selling alcohol at retail.
• Manufacturers of all kinds of liquor.
• Persons exporting Russian alcohol to other countries.

VAT difference

Vodka excise rates do not include value added taxes. These are completely different fees. They are united only by the fact that by their nature they are both indirect. Imagine their differences:

• VAT is subject to a much larger number of products and products than excises. Value added tax also applies to services. Only specific goods are excisable.
• Excise tax is a rather significant burden on an entrepreneur or organization. As for VAT, this tax is not tangible, provided that deductions are properly processed.
• Excise rates are not offset to the same extent as the use of VAT deductions.
• Excises have a significant impact onprofitability of the company, which cannot be said about VAT.

Excise rates

How to calculate the amount of excise tax on vodka? First of all, you need to establish what rates are applicable here. If we turn to the tax theory, then there are three types of them:

• Specific. This is a fixed amount of money per unit of production. An excise tax on a bottle of vodka is an example of a specific rate.
• Ad valorem. This implies a certain percentage of the cost of excisable products, products. The disadvantage of such a rate is that in order to determine the amount of the fee, it is necessary to calculate the customs value of the goods each time. How much is the excise tax on vodka here? The value depends on two components: the cost of the product itself and the value of the excise rate in force in the state.
• Combined. Both specific and ad valorem rates apply to one product. Alcohol is not an example here. Another thing is cars. For example, customs duties in relation to them are calculated based on the cost of the car and the power of the engine installed in it.

The current value of the excise tax in Russia

How much is the excise tax per liter of vodka? Consider the amount of this fee in relation to all alcoholic products:

• Alcohol food products other than those listed below. Fortress: more than 9%. Rate: 523 rubles/liter.
• Alcohol food products other than those listed below. Fortress: less than 9%. Rate: 418 rubles/liter.
• Alcoholic drinks onbase of beer and wine (including sparkling and fruit), poiret, cider, mead. All kinds of wine drinks, the manufacture of which does not use rectified ethyl alcohol (obtained from food raw materials) or alcoholized fruit (including grape) must and / or distillates. Fortress: up to 9%. Rate: 18 rubles/liter.
• All categories of wines, except sparkling, subject to confirmation of geographical origin, indicating the place of production. Fortress: up to 9%. Rate: 5 rubles/liter.
• Sparkling wines, with the exception of those varieties that are produced without indicating the place of manufacture, the geographical origin of the product. Fortress: up to 9%. Rate: 36 rubles/liter.
• Sparkling wines, whose producers indicate the geographical origin of the drink and the location where it is made. Fortress: up to 9%. Rate: 14 rubles/liter.
• Beer. Fortress: up to 0.5%. Rate: 0 rubles/liter.
• Beer. Fortress: more than 8, 6%. Rate: 39 rubles/liter.
• Beer drinks not fortified with ethyl alcohol. Fortress: 0.5-8.6%. Rate: 21 rubles/liter.
• Cider. This refers to drinks obtained in the fermentation process of either apple must or reconstituted apple juice. Fortress: up to 6%. Rate: 21 rubles/liter.
• Poiret. This refers to products created during the fermentation of either pear must or pear juice reconstituted. Fortress: up to 8, 6%. Rate: 21 rubles/liter.
• Mead. Drinks obtained in the process of fermentation of honey must (the minimum proportion of honey in such a product is 8%). Fortress: 1.5-6%. Bid:21 rubles/liter.

What is the amount of excise tax on vodka in this way? Since it belongs to alcohol products that are not included in the list of exceptions, and its strength exceeds 9%, the amount of excise in this case is 523 rubles.

Forecasts for the future

How to check the excise tax on vodka? It is enough to compare with the indicators given above. They are expected to be relevant throughout 2019. But already in 2020 it is planned to increase them:

• The excise tax on alcohol products with a strength of more than 9% (which includes vodka) will increase to 544 rubles.
• Products not included in the exclusive list, whose alcohol content is less than 9%, are also considered. The excise tax here will increase to 435 rubles.
• The excise rate on wines will slightly increase. It will increase to 19 rubles per liter.

Calculation of excises

To calculate what amount of excises awaits a particular batch of alcoholic products, businessmen use a simple formula:

A=Nb x C.

The components here are as follows:

• A - excise duty, mandatory for payment.
• Nb - tax base (sold alcoholic beverages, calculated in liters).
• С - the rate approved by the legislation (the values indicated by us above).

Payment due dates

Russian tax legislation establishes the exact deadlines for paying excise payments: before the 25th day of the month following the reporting one. They are repaid in the locality wherethe products were manufactured and sold from a general, wholesale warehouse.

It is important to note that excisable alcoholic products must be marked with special stamps. These marks certify that excise duty is paid from it, the conditions for the release of such vodka comply with the current requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation.

If a businessman evades paying excise taxes on alcohol, he is forced to pay the payment. With the addition of due fines and late fees.

Exceptional spirits

In conclusion, we list products containing ethyl alcohol in their composition, but at the same time free from excise duties:

• Drugs that have passed state registration and are included in the State Register of the Russian Federation. As well as medicines, information about which is indicated in the Unified Register of Medicinal Products of the Eurasian Economic Union.
• Medicines (including homeopathic products) produced by pharmacies on order, prescription from medical institutions.
• Veterinary medicines that have passed the mandatory state registration, specified in the State Register. With one condition - they must be sold in containers with a volume of less than 100 ml.
• Assortment of perfumery and cosmetic products. But there are limitations here. Thus, the proportion of ethyl alcohol in such products should not exceed 80%. The maximum volume of containers with alcohol-containing products is 100 ml.
• Cosmetics and perfumes containing up to 90% ethyl alcohol. There are two validoption. Products must be packaged in spray bottles with a maximum volume of 100 ml. Or in ordinary bottles, but the volume of which cannot be more than 3 ml.
• Waste generated during processing C₂H_{5OH. This refers to the mass that is subject to further processing in the future. Or it will be used for some technological (not food) purposes.}

Summarize. Excises are levied on products that are in high demand among the population. Not surprisingly, it is alcohol and vodka in particular. In addition, excises here are an instrument of social policy. By raising them, the state is trying to combat the excessive consumption of strong alcohol by the population.

The point is that the cost of ethyl alcohol is relatively low. More than 2/3 of the price of the same vodka is precisely excises. The final payer is the consumer. As for excises on alcohol, in 2018-2019. they remained at the same level. The next increase is planned for 2020.