Filing and paying excise duty – instructions for regular and casual filers
Excise duties are self-assessed taxes. The filing and payment schedule depends on whether the company is liable to pay excise duty regularly or casually.
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.
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).
Regular taxpayer: How to file and pay excise duties
Casual taxpayer: How to take care of excise duties, advance notices and one-off guarantees
How to pay excise duties
You can pay excise duties in MyTax or in your own e-bank, for example. You can use the paper form only in exceptional cases. In some cases, you must pay a one-off guarantee for your excise duties in advance. You can also pay the guarantee in MyTax.
When you pay in MyTax, the payment details are automatically correct. The payment will be debited immediately, so you cannot change the date of payment.
If you pay excise duties in your e-bank, you will need the reference number and the Tax Administration’s bank account number. The payment recipient is Verohallinto (i.e. the Finnish Tax Administration).
How to pay in MyTax or check the payment details:
Payment instructions for business operators and self-employed individuals
- Go to MyTax and log in (opens in a new tab).
- Go to Payment status on the home page and click Paying taxes and payment details.
- You can proceed to pay a tax by clicking the link at the tax in question. If you want to check payment details, click the See payment details link.
- If you do not see excise duties at the beginning of the page, go to Payment details for all taxes and select Self-assessed taxes in the selection list.
Business operators and self-employed individuals use the reference number for self-assessed taxes when they pay excise duties. Note that you cannot allocate your payment precisely to excise duties: the payment will be used for all your self-assessed taxes in the order of the due dates, from oldest to newest.
Payment instructions for limited liability companies and other corporate taxpayers
- Go to MyTax and log in (opens in a new tab).
- Go to Payment status on the home page and click Paying taxes and payment details.
- You can find the general reference number for taxes and the Tax Administration’s bank account numbers at the beginning of the page under Making payments using the general reference number for taxes.
- If you want to pay immediately, click the Pay taxes link.
Corporate taxpayers use the single general reference number for taxes when they pay excise duties.
Read more about the general reference number for taxes
How to log in to e-services
You must identify yourself to our e-services before you can log in and start taking care of your personal taxes or your company’s tax matters.
How to log in to MyTax and other e-services
How to grant an authorisation for tax matters
You can authorise an agent to take care of your personal tax matters or your company’s taxes on your behalf. Please note: If you manage excise duties on behalf on someone else and you have the “Managing matters concerning excise taxation” authorisation, you cannot pay the excise duty in MyTax but must go to your online bank.
How to grant a Suomi.fi authorisation for tax matters
Report if your operations change or end
If your authorisation details change or if your operations requiring registration end, you must inform the Tax Administration immediately.
Authorisations and registrations for excise taxation
If you file or pay late
If you file excise duty information late, you must pay a late-filing penalty. If you pay your excise duty after the due date, you must also pay interest.
If you file or pay excise duties late
(available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)
Read more:
- Parties with registration obligation
- EMCS registrations for excise taxation
- Certified and temporary certified consignees in excise taxation
- Certified consignor and temporary certified consignor in excise taxation
- Temporarily registered consignees
- Advance ruling on corporate taxation matters
- How to appeal
- VAT – intra-Community acquisitions of products subject to excise duty
Key terms: