Reader’s Opinion | The Estonian model should be allowed for distance sales of alcohol

Excise Tax Act changed at the beginning of September. If the foreign remote seller of alcohol has not taken care of his tax obligations, the buyer may become liable. The law change is based on the EU’s excise duty directive, “whose main goal is to enable the free movement of products within the EU and at the same time ensure the correct collection of excise duties in the member states”. In Finland, the buyer is not liable for tax in distance sales, but only jointly and severally liable. So the buyer cannot handle the taxes in advance, but they are collected with a subsequent tax decision.

Since it’s alcohol, Finland goes its own way again. For example, in Germany, Estonia and Sweden, the directive has been implemented so that in distance sales, the seller can send the package and the buyer can handle the taxes. It is a hybrid model that facilitates trading and tax payment: the buyer does not have to try to find a transport company abroad, and the seller does not have to find out about the tax bureaucracy of the destination country. You can conveniently order a few bottles of wine from the winery to your home, taking taxes into account.

If Finland now tries to order wine with a hybrid model, the tax bear remembers the seller with a 2000 euro negligence fee. From the point of view of the tax administration, no one has taken care of taxes in advance, because the buyer is considered to be able to pay them only after receiving the tax decision. The buyer’s tax liability enabled by the directive has been implemented incorrectly and in a manner hostile to the internal market. Contrary to the objective of the directive, the purpose seems to be to impede the free movement of goods. Finland should take a spoon in the beautiful hand and allow the hybrid model of distance sales.

Rikhard Sjöberg

Helsinki

The reader’s opinions are speeches written by HS readers, selected and edited by the HS editorial staff. You can leave an opinion piece or familiarize yourself with the principles of writing at the address www.hs.fi/kiryotamielipidekeisuis/.