The Customs and Tax Administration is intensifying the supervision of alcohol purchased online
FINLAND CUSTOMS and the Tax Administration announced on Wednesday that it will intensify the enforcement of the rules regarding the purchase of alcoholic beverages from online stores located outside of Finland starting in November.
The customs authorities start to withhold orders for alcoholic beverages and check with the tax authorities whether the necessary advance declarations have been made and the security amounts have been paid.
If notifications have not been made and payments have not been made in cases where the seller is responsible for the obligations, the tax authorities will confiscate the products. The customs authorities will gain control over the seized products if the seller does not make payments within six months, according to the announcement of the Tax Administration.
Customers whose orders are delayed are advised to contact the online store, as the provisions of the law prevent the authorities from notifying the customer in cases where the seller is responsible for his obligations on the basis that the matter only concerns the seller and the Tax Administration.
In cases where the buyer is responsible for customs duties, Customs does not detain the products. The tax authorities will instead send the buyer a tax claim if the excise duties are considered unpaid.
Sami PeltolaTax Administration Control Manager, reminded that the price of cheap beer ordered online from abroad can double according to customs.
The Tax Administration gave two somewhat startling examples of the possible effects of customs on alcohol ordered from abroad. The excise tax on 24 cans of 4.6 percent alcohol beer sold online for 13.90 euros is 13.86 euros for the beer and 4.03 euros for one can, bringing the total price to 31.79 euros.
A three-liter box of red wine sold for 11.9 euros, on the other hand, has an excise duty of 12.63 euros on the wine and 1.53 euros on one container, so the price rises to 26.06 euros.
According to estimates, Finland loses approximately EUR 80–100 million in excise tax revenue every year because the taxes on alcohol ordered to Finland from foreign online stores remain unpaid. According to the statistics of the Institute of Health and Welfare (THL), a total of 33 million liters of alcoholic beverages were imported from online stores in 2021. According to statistics, the number has tripled since 2019.
“It has become clear that the growth in popularity of online alcohol is based almost entirely on the easy avoidance of excise duty,” Peltola said.
The surveillance campaign is scheduled to continue at least until the end of 2023.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT