Excise duty

Excise duties must be paid on the following:

• tobacco products (including cigarette paper and electronic cigarette liquids)
• alcohol
• liquid fuels, such as petrol and diesel oil
• electricity, coal, biogas, natural gas, fuel peat and pine oil
• soft drinks, certain foods for particular nutritional uses and beverage containers.

In addition to excise duties, the State may charge the following fees that are similar to excise duties:

• ·security supply fee for electricity, coal, biogas, natural gas and liquid fuels.

Your company must pay excise duties if it is one of the following:

• a commercial importer of products subject to excise duties
• a commercial manufacturer of products subject to excise duties
• an operator holding duty-free goods that are subject to excise duties
• an operator participating in the holding of duty-free goods that are subject to excise duties

Your company will pay an excise duty at the point when it puts a product subject to an excise duty in commercial circulation in Finland. This can include situations where your company receives a product in Finland or hands over a product for sales from its duty-free stock.

If your company is engaged in regular activities subject to excise duty, apply to the Finnish Tax Administration for

• an authorised warehouse keeper’s permit and a duty-free warehouse permit, if your company’s wholesale business for products subject to excise duty is extensive
• a registered consignee’s permit, if your company takes delivery of products subject to excise duty from inside the EU
• a registered consignor’s permit, if you import alcohol, tobacco products or liquid fuels free of tax from outside the EU
• a tax representative permit, if a distance seller within the EU has authorised your company to act as its tax representative in Finland

You will be charged a fee for decisions concerning permits. Apply for permits in the MyTax service.Opens in a new window.

Before any permits are issued, your company must lodge a security for the payment of excise duties. A bank guarantee, surety insurance, or pledged bank assets or a combination of these can be accepted as security.

If your company’s activities are subject to excise duty only occasionally, there is no need for any permits. However, your company must lodge a one-off security for each imported consignment before the products are sent to Finland.

You can lodge the security in the MyTax service.Opens in a new window.

Report and pay the excise duty to the Finnish Tax Administration of your own initiative. You can submit the reports and pay the duties in the MyTax serviceOpens in a new window.. 

If your company’s activities are subject to excise duties regularly, submit a report and pay the excise duty at latest on the 12th day of the second month following the tax period. Example: Report and pay the excise duty for June no later than 12 August.

If your company’s activities are subject to excise duties occasionally, submit a report and pay the excise duty at latest on the 12th day of the month following the tax period. Example: Report and pay the excise duty for June no later than 12 July.

If you are a landfill operator you can pay the waste tax every three months. If you are a small electricity producer, small biogas producer or a small-scale peat user, you can pay the tax once a year.