General excise
Overview
Common requirements apply throughout the European Union (EU) and Northern Ireland to certain excisable products subject to excise duties.
These requirements cover, for example:
- the excisable products on which EU Member States must charge excise duties
- common rules on producing, processing, storing and moving excisable products
- authorisation by your Revenue office
- licensing.
Excisable products subject to these common requirements are:
- alcohol products
- tobacco products
- energy products used for heating and transport, as well as electricity.
There are different requirements depending on whether the excise duty:
- has already been paid (referred to as ‘duty paid’)
- or
- has not been paid as the products have not been released for consumption (referred to as ‘duty suspended’).
Next: Setting up an excise business