Excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages – which products are subject to excise duty and how much is the duty?

Excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages must be paid on alcohol products that are manufactured in Finland or that are sent or transported from other EU countries or from non-EU countries and received in Finland.

Excise duty is payable by alcohol manufacturers and importers. Excise duty must be paid when products are imported to Finland or released for consumption from the duty suspension arrangement. 

Alcohol products subject to excise duty

The following alcohol products are subject to excise duty:

  • beers and other malt drinks containing more than 0.5% alcohol by volume
  • wines and other fermented alcoholic beverages
  • intermediate products containing at most 22% alcohol by volume 
    • for example, fortified wines, such as port, madeira and sherry
  • ethyl alcohol products containing more than 1.2% alcohol by volume
    • for example, spirits and liqueurs.

Products exempt from excise duty

Products exempt from excise duty include:

  • strongly denatured ethanol
  • mildly denatured products used in the manufacture of products that are not intended for human consumption.

How much is the excise duty on alcoholic beverages?

Based on the alcohol content, products are divided into categories to which different tax rates are applied. The excise duty depends of the beverage type, ethyl alcohol content and quantity. The excise duty is calculated by product group. It is calculated with the accuracy of two decimal points without rounding up or down. Example: 7.357 litres = 7.35 litres.

Excise duty table for alcohol and alcoholic beverages

Excise duty calculator for alcohol 

Excise duty calculator for alcohol

How to file an advance notice

You can file an advance notice in MyTax. Read more:

Advance notice and one-off guarantee in excise taxation – companies

How to file an advance notice in MyTax

How to pay excise duty and file an excise duty return

You can submit an advance notice and file and pay excise duty in MyTax.

How to file and pay excise duty 

How to file the excise duty return in MyTax

Go to MyTax

You also have the option to file the return through the Tax Administration’s API.

Vero API interfaces

You can also file an excise duty return with a paper form. However, you cannot file on paper unless you have a special reason for doing so. Special reasons include situations where it is not reasonable to expect that the taxpayer could file electronically. An example is a situation where electronic filing is not possible due to technical problems. The special reason does not need to be reported to the Tax Administration.

Excise duty return on alcohol (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)

Excise duty return forms (available in Finnish and Swedish, link to Finnish)

Alcohol carried by a private individual 

Alcoholic beverages that a private individual brings from other EU countries for their personal use are exempt from tax. The tax exemption does not apply to distance selling. Alcoholic beverages brought from non-EU countries as traveller imports are subject to quantity limits.

Bringing alcohol and tobacco to Finland (Private individual) 

Further information about recommended alcohol volumes that can be brought by private individuals for personal use and about the amount and payment of excise duty on taxable alcohol brought from non-EU countries is available on the website of Customs.

Quantities of alcohol that can be imported as traveller imports (Customs)

Read more about importing alcohol from non-EU countries (Customs)

Further information

 

Excise duty on alcohol — other pages

Key terms:

Page last updated 11/14/2024