ECJ – Excise duty exemption does not apply to withdrawal due to unlawful act

• The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that the tax exemption under Article 14(1) of Directive 92/12/EEC does not apply to warehousekeepers responsible for paying excise duty, even in cases where there is a withdrawal from the suspension arrangement due to an illegal act.
• This ruling came after an Italian company, KRI SpA, stored and transported petroleum products under excise duty suspension to Slovenia’s BMB Projekt d.o.
• However, Italian tax authorities found irregularities in the release of these products and demanded the recovery of excise duty.
• The Court ruled that the warehousekeeper is responsible for paying the excise duty, even if they were unaware of any illegal activity and trusted that the product was regularly put into circulation.

Source Taxlive

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