When an excise product, such as alcohol, is exported irregularly within the European Union, decisions by the authorities of the Member States concerned cannot lead to a double recovery of the relevant duties, the Court of Justice of the EU ruled on Wednesday 24 February (Case C-95/19).
And the “exporting” Member State which has already proceeded to recover excise duties on the basis of the irregular exit of the product from the suspensive arrangements may refuse to act on a request for recovery made by the “importing” Member State.
The Italian company Silcompa SpA exported ethyl alcohol irregularly to Greece. The Italian customs agency then proceeded to recover the unpaid excise duties. After reaching a settlement agreement with the Italian company, Italian customs were contacted by their Greek counterpart claiming payment of excise duties for the same operations, the latter claiming that the goods had been illegally released for consumption in Greece.
In its reasoning, the European court refers to two hypotheses depending on whether the illegal consumption of ethyl alcohol in Greece constitutes an offence or irregularity or whether it is the result of an offence or irregularity committed previously in Italy. And it recalls the need to avoid the coexistence of two final decisions to tax the same products.
See the judgment: https://bit.ly/3sr56qS (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)