As a result of stricter controls than before, the price of an inexpensive can of beer ordered online may double.
Customs and the Tax Administration will strengthen the tax control of alcohol purchased from foreign online stores starting in November. The purpose is to get the excise taxes to Finland. The Tax Administration informs about this in its announcement.
From November, some deliveries will stop at Customs.
Orders stopped at customs are checked to see if they have been notified in advance and the required fees have been paid. The order is on hold at Customs during the investigation.
If the order has not been notified and the fees have not been paid, the Tax Administration will make a takeover decision.
If the responsibility for paying the taxes belongs to the seller and the seller does not rectify the matter by paying the taxes assigned to it within six months, Customs has the right to dispose of the products.
In some cases, the customer is responsible for paying taxes. Such orders are not stored at Customs, but the customer receives a tax decision on his order afterwards.
“Roughly estimated, the price of an inexpensive can of beer ordered online will double when the taxes also become payable,” says the Tax Administration’s Control and Control Manager Sami Peltola says in the announcement.
Taxes the share of the price of drinks purchased online can surprise you with its size. In its announcement, the Norwegian Tax Administration offers two examples:
For example, a 24-pack of 0.33-liter medium beer costs 13.90 euros in a foreign online store. The alcohol tax for Keskiolu is 13.86 euros, and the beverage packaging tax for drinks sold in cans is 4.03 euros. The share of excise duty is a total of 17.89 euros and the tax price for 24 cans is a total of 31.79 euros.
A three-liter bottle of red wine costs 11.90 euros in a foreign online store. The alcohol tax on wine is 12.63 euros and the tax on beverage packaging is 1.53 euros. The share of excise duty is a total of 14.16 euros and the taxable price for the faucet package is a total of 26.06 euros.
State loses an estimated EUR 80–100 million in tax revenue due to the fact that no taxes are paid to Finland on alcohol ordered from foreign online stores.
“The online sale of alcohol increased significantly during the corona years, and the popularity of the phenomenon is almost entirely based on the fact that taxes remain unpaid,” says Peltola in the press release.
According to the statistics of the Institute of Health and Welfare, 33 million liters of alcoholic beverages were ordered to Finland from abroad. In the years 2019–2021, the order volumes have approximately tripled.
The increase in orders is the reason for increased monitoring. Power monitoring is intended to continue at least until the end of 2023.
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