The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on April 25, 2024, in case C-657/22 that the increased excise duty on energy products reintroduced into a tax warehouse and intended to be used as heating fuel does not automatically result in the imposition of VAT on the excise duty supplement.
The case involved a Romanian company that had reintroduced an energy product for heating purposes into its tax warehouse, without complying with the requirements for markings, coloring, and notification to customs.
The Romanian tax authorities had applied the higher excise duty rate for fuel used in motors, which is over 21 times the rate for heating fuels, and also charged VAT on the excise duty supplement.
The Court ruled that imposing an excise duty rate over 21 times higher, intended for motor fuels, on an energy product used for heating purposes, violates the EU principle of proportionality.
The Court also stated that charging VAT on the excise duty supplement, which was a sanction for the irregular reintroduction of the product, goes against the principles of VAT neutrality, unless the product is actually sold for use as motor fuel.
Italian legislation (Legislative Decree 504/1995) distinguishes between energy products intended for use as motor fuels or as heating fuels, applying different excise duty rates. The “principle of equivalence” applies to energy products not specifically categorized, where the actual intended use, rather than the chemical composition, determines the applicable excise duty rate.
Source: eutekne.info
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
