Serbia to be Required to Harmonize Excise Taxes on Strong Alcoholic Drinks

In Serbia, the excise tax on plum brandy is 94 dinars per 700 milliliters, whereas the excise tax on grain alcohol, such as whiskey, is 241 dinars per same volume, and the harmonization of excise taxes is one of Serbia's obligation within its process of joining the EU through negotiations on Chapter 16, pertaining to taxation.

At the online conference titled “Economic Topics in the Process of Serbia's European Integration”, organized by the Center for European Policies, Jelena Rancic of the NALED, the coordinator of the task force of the National Convent on the EU for Chapter 16, said that the chapter had not yet been opened, considering that the European Commission had estimated that Serbia had not met the key criterion pertaining to the harmonization of excise taxes on strong alcoholic drinks.

– The key obstacle to the opening of this chapter and the reason why we haven't been given the green light from the EC is that this is the basic requirement for the elimination of fiscal discrimination of producers of strong alcoholic drinks, and it hasn't been met – Rancic said.

She added that excise tax revenues comprised 13% of the total public revenues in Serbia and that, when joining the EU, Serbia would also need to implement excise taxes on natural gas, coal and coke, whereas the excise tax on tobacco products would increase substantially.

The EU Directive on Excise Taxes proscribes minimal excise tax amounts, but member states have the right of implementing higher excise taxes, Rancic explained.

Centar za evropske politike Beograd

NALED Beograd

excise tax on plum brandy

excise tax

plum brandy

excise tax on alcoholic drinks

Economic Topics in the Process of Serbia's European Integration

Jelena Rancic

Law on VAT