Filing and paying excise duty – instructions for regular and casual filers

In excise taxation, regular taxpayers include the following:

• authorised warehouse keepers
• registered consignees
• tax representatives
• parties registered as liable for excise duty, such as
  • electricity network operators, electricity producers and small electricity producers
  • users of fuel peat and users of tall oil
  • producers of biofuel oil
  • operators of gas networks and parties using natural gas or biogas for tax-exempt purposes
    • A party using natural gas or biogas for tax-exempt purposes can register as a registered gas user. A distribution network operator can also register as a taxpayer and request tax exemption for a gas distribution network in the same way as for a transmission network. However, registration is not mandatory.
  • certified consignees
  • mining operators (mining companies)

Regular taxpayers need an authorisation for their operations and are obliged to register as liable for excise duty.

Excise duty authorisations

Parties with registration obligation

Filing and payment instructions for regular taxpayers

Not all companies have regular operations that would require excise duty registration or an excise duty authorisation. In that case, the company is not a regular taxpayer for purposes of excise taxation. However, if the company imports an individual batch of products subject to excise duty into Finland, it is regarded as a casual taxpayer.

Casual taxpayers include:

• temporary registered consignees
  • The products are moved under a duty suspension arrangement using the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS).
• distance buyers
  • Private individuals wishing to make a distance purchase. This applies to situations where a private individual orders and receives products subject to EU-harmonised excise duty that have been released for consumption, i.e. alcohol or tobacco, and arranges the transport themselves. 
• consignees of products subject to a national excise duty
  • For example, a private individual who orders/receives soft drinks. Advance notices concerning beverage containers are also filed under this role.
• distance sellers
  • A distance seller is a seller in another EU country who sells products subject to excise duty to private individuals in Finland and arranges their delivery to Finland. The distance seller can deliver the products themselves or hire a delivery company to do it.
• temporary certified consignees
  • Products released for consumption are moved using the Excise Movement and Control System (EMCS).
• temporary certified consignors
  • does not file an excise duty return

Filing and payment instructions for casual taxpayers