Excise duty on soft drinks
You must pay excise duties if you import soft drinks
In October and November 2024, the Tax Administration has sent out guidance letters to companies that have imported soft drinks from other EU countries to Finland but have not filed advance notices or excise duty returns on the soft drinks or beverage containers. The letter is a reminder to pay the required excise duties.
The Tax Administration actively monitors the filing and payment of excise duties. If you do not file an advance notice, a negligence penalty will be imposed. If you do not file excise duty returns and the Tax Administration imposes excise duties afterwards, you must also pay a punitive tax increase in addition to the excise duties.
Companies that produce or import soft drinks are subject to the excise duty on soft drinks. The duty is payable at receival of goods in Finland or, if the goods are released for consumption from a tax warehouse, at release of the goods. The soft drinks and other beverages subject to the duty are listed in the tax table (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish).
Producers and importers are liable for sending an advance notice
When you bring any products to Finland that are subject to national excise duties elsewhere in the European Union – including soft drinks and their bottles and cans – you must submit an advance notice to the Tax Administration. Submitting the notice is mandatory if you are a casual importer. Holders of an import licence are not required to submit the notice.
Read more about advance notices
You can log in to MyTax to submit an advance notice.
Submitting the advance notice in MyTax
Products subject to the excise duty
Dutiable products include:
- waters and juices
- soft drinks
- beers, max. 0.5% of alcohol by volume
- ciders, max. 1.2% of alcohol by volume
- concentrates and powders for making drinks
- certain special diet products
- sports drinks
- plant-based milk replacement products with flavourings
- plant-based drinks containing sugar more than 4.8g/100 ml (such as soy drinks and oat drinks)
Exempted products
No excise duty on soft drinks is collected on products such as:
- products utilised for industrial production processes of soft drinks
- products or raw materials used in the industrial production of other products in the food industry
- unflavoured milk replacement products containing less than 4.8% sugar per 100 millilitres
- nutritional preparations for clinical purposes
- treated milk products for infants and babies
- food products for children
- preparations for weight loss
- dietary supplements
- pharmaceutical products
How much is the excise duty?
The amount depends on the volume of the product measured in litres. In the case of solid beverage ingredients, the amount depends on net weight. Net weight means the ingredient’s weight without its packaging. The duty you need to pay will also depend on product category. For more information on product categories and the duty to be paid, see the tax table.
In addition to the excise duty on soft drinks, remember to file and pay the excise duty on beverage containers.
File and pay your excise duties on soft drinks and beverage containers
You can use MyTax to file and pay the excise duties.
How to file and pay excise duty on soft drinks and beverage containers in MyTax
You also have the option to file the return through the Tax Administration’s API.
Paper forms are only accepted in certain exceptional circumstances.
Further information and guidance
- Excise duty treatment of differences in inventories (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)
- Independent small producers (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)
- Information on extended producer liability (Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment)
- “Supermarket juice vending machines and smoothie-bar sales require payment of excise duty on soft drinks by the producer” — Kaupan mehustuskone ja smoothiebaari: valmistajan on maksettava virvoitusjuomavero (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)