Excise duties in Portugal

Duty on alcohol, alcoholic beverages and beverages containing added sugar or other sweetening matter	beer
	wines
	fermented beverages
	spirit drinks
	ethyl alcohol
	beverages containing added sugar or other sweetening matter
	beverage concentrates
Duty on petroleum and energy products	petroleum and energy products
	products used as fuel in any type of non-stationary engine
	hydrocarbons used as fuel, with the exception of peat
	electricity
Tobacco duty	cigars and cigarillos
	cigarettes
	roll-your-own and waterpipe tobacco
	snuff
	chewing tobacco
	heat-not-burn tobacco
	liquid containing nicotine

You can consult the charges levied on each product subject to excise duty on the tax portal.

You can consult the tariff codes for each product subject to excise duty on the tax portal.

Excise duty suspension arrangements allow these duties on the production, processing, possession and movement of excise products to be waived.

To be covered by excise duty suspension arrangements, at least one of the following statuses must apply:

• Authorised warehousekeeper status
• Registered consignee status
• Registered consignor status.

Products under excise duty suspension arrangements may be moved only between a tax warehouse or point of import and:

• another tax warehouse
• a registered consignee
• a European Union place of export.

Products under excise duty suspension arrangements may be produced, processed and stored only at a tax warehouse.

Authorisation and setting up of a tax warehouse

A tax warehouse is a place where products under excise duty suspension arrangements are produced, processed, stored, received or dispatched by the authorised warehousekeeper.

The setting up of a tax warehouse is dependent on the approval of the customs service responsible for the intended location of the warehouse.

To apply to the customs authority to set up a tax warehouse, a form must be completed and the following must be provided:

• a copy of the licensing document of the premises
• the record of the premises in the building register, the registration document or the lease contract
• the forecast annual production plan, with an indication of rates of yield (for production or processing warehouses) or the forecast annual average throughput per product (for storage warehouses).

If all the requirements are met, the setting up of the tax warehouse is authorised and communicated to the applicant within 30 days.

If the decision is not communicated within 30 days, the application is deemed not to have been authorised.

For further information see the excise duty manual.

Authorised warehousekeeper status

An authorised warehousekeeper is a person or undertaking authorised by the Tax and Customs Authority to produce, process, hold, receive and dispatch products under excise duty suspension arrangements in a tax warehouse.

The authorised warehousekeeper is responsible for declaration obligations, even in relation to products they do not own.

The authorised warehousekeeper is required to:

• provide a guarantee covering the risks of releasing products for consumption which can be used as excise products
• keep an up-to-date permanent inventory, with an indication of the source and destination and issues affecting the calculation of the duty
• enter the products in the tax warehouse into the inventory
• cooperate with the checks determined by the Tax and Customs Authority
• communicate the nomination or replacement of managers and administrators and any change in the information provided to obtain the status
• comply with all procedures determined by the Tax and Customs Authority.

To obtain authorised warehousekeeper status:

• the tax warehouse must be authorised
• the main economic activity must consist of the production, processing, storage or marketing of excise products, except in cases where the economic activity is the provision of storage services alone
• the trader and any manager or administrator must not have been convicted of a criminal or tax offence punishable with a fine equal to or greater than EUR 5 000 in the last five years
• there must be no debts to the Tax and Customs Authority or Social Security in the enforced recovery stage without an administrative complaint, legal challenge, application opposing enforcement or payment by instalment with provision of a guarantee.

To maintain authorised warehousekeeper status, all the requirements for the application for status must continue to be complied with.

For further information see the excise duty manual.

Registered consignee status

A registered consignee is a person or undertaking authorised by the Tax and Customs Authority to receive excise products moving under a duty suspension arrangement.

Registered consignee status can also be granted on a temporary basis, limited to a specific quantity of products, a single consignor and a determined period of time.

The registered consignee is responsible for the declaration requirements, even for products they do not own, and must:

• provide a guarantee covering the risks of releasing the products received for consumption
• comply with the formalities applicable to the release of products for consumption in Portugal
• communicate the nomination or replacement of managers and administrators and any change in the information provided to obtain the status
• keep up-to-date records of products received and released for consumption under suspension arrangements, with an indication of their origin and destination and issues affecting the calculation of the duty
• cooperate with any checks that allow the Tax and Customs Authority to satisfy itself that the products have been received.

To obtain registered consignee status:

• the main economic activity must consist of the marketing of excise products
• the trader and any manager or administrator must not have been convicted of a criminal or tax offence punishable with a fine equal to or greater than EUR 5 000 in the last five years
• there must be no debts to the Tax and Customs Authority or Social Security in the enforced recovery stage without an administrative complaint, legal challenge, application opposing enforcement or payment by instalment with provision of a guarantee.

If all requirements are complied with, the status is awarded and communicated to the applicant within 30 days.

If the decision is not communicated within 30 days, the application is deemed not to have been authorised.

To maintain registered consignee status, all the requirements for the application for status must continue to be complied with.

For further information see the excise duty manual.

Registered consignor status

The registered consignor is the person or undertaking authorised by the Tax and Customs Authority to dispatch products under excise duty suspension arrangements from the place of importation.

The registered consignor is required to:

• cooperate with any checks that allow the Tax and Customs Authority to satisfy itself that the products have been dispatched
• communicate the nomination or replacement of managers and administrators and any change in the information provided to obtain the status
• provide or indicate a valid guarantee covering the risks of releasing for consumption the excise products it intends to dispatch.

To obtain registered consignor status:

• the trader and any manager or administrator must not have been convicted of a criminal or tax offence punishable with a fine equal to or greater than EUR 5 000 in the last five years
• there must be no debts to the Tax and Customs Authority or Social Security in the enforced recovery stage without an administrative complaint, legal challenge, application opposing enforcement or payment by instalment with provision of a guarantee.

If all requirements are complied with, the status is awarded and communicated to the applicant within 30 days.

If the decision is not communicated within 30 days, the application is deemed not to have been authorised.

To maintain registered consignor status, all the requirements for the application for status must continue to be complied with.

For further information see the excise duty manual.

Payment of excise duty is the responsibility of the party that places the product on the market.

Placing of products on the market is deemed to be:

• the departure of products from a duty suspension arrangement
• their possession, outside a suspension arrangement, if the duty has not been levied
• the production of products outside a suspension arrangement
• the importation of products, unless they are immediately subject to a suspension arrangement
• the cessation or violation of a tax benefit
• the provision of electricity, self-consumption and the acquisition of electricity by final consumers
• the supply of natural gas to the final consumer, and the import and receipt of natural gas from another Member State directly by final consumers.

If it is not possible to determine the exact time of release for consumption, payment of excise duty is the responsibility of the party in possession of the product when the Tax and Customs Authority identifies its placing on the market.

For further information see the excise duty manual.

Communicating the placing of products on the market

The placing of excise products on the market must be communicated:

• by an electronic declaration of release for consumption (e-DRC)

or

• by a customs declaration in the case of importation.

For further information see the excise duty manual.

Paying the excise duty

After communicating the release of goods for consumption, notification is given in the reserved area of the tax portal to pay the amount owed by the 15th of the month following the notification.

If it is not possible to make the communication electronically, notification to pay is sent by post to the tax address by the 20th of the month following the communication.

For further information see the excise duty manual.

Minimum payment value

Excise duty is charged only if the value is greater than EUR 10.

In the case of non-commercial beverages, the charge is levied only if there are more than 30litres of finished product per year and per producer.

If the debtor is unable to pay the amount in due time, they may apply to the Director-General for Customs and Excise to pay by instalment.

The application for payment by instalment must be submitted to the customs service responsible for the area of the debtor’s tax residence by the end of the payment period.

For further information see the excise duty manual.