EXCISE TAX – Excise tax is an indirect tax – paid to the budget in the amount and manner prescribed by law – in relation to the imports of excisable goods or alienation thereof by the producers within the territory of the Republic of Artsakh.
The goods subject to excise tax are: beer, grape and other wines, grape marc, spirit and spirits drinks, manufactured tobacco substitutes, cigars, cigarillos and cigarettes with tobacco or its substitutes, petrol, crude oil and oil materials, diesel fuel, oil gases, other gas like hydrocarbons (except for natural gas).
Excise tax shall be paid by legal persons (including representations and branches of foreign legal persons duly registered in the Republic of Artsakh) or natural persons importing or producing (including bottling and other types of packaging) excisable goods.
The following excise tax rates shall be defined by law
| Product code under ATG AA | Product family name | Tax base unit | Rate of excise tax (AMD) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since January 01, 2021 | Since January 01, 2022 | Since January 01, 2023 | |||
| 2203 | beer | for domestic production per 1 litre |
70 | ||
| in case of imports per 1 litre |
105 | ||||
| 2204 | grape and other wines, grape marc | 1 litre | 150 | ||
| 2205 | Vermouth and other grape wines containing vegetable and aromatic extracts | for domestic production per 1 litre |
500 | ||
| in case of imports per 1 litre |
600 | ||||
| 2206 | Fermented drinks (apple cider, Pearru (pear cider) honey-drinks | for domestic production per 1 litre |
180 | ||
| in case of imports per 1 litre |
200 | ||||
| 2207 | Ethyl spirit | for domestic production per 1 litre (on 100-percent spirit recalculation) | 600 |
||
| in case of imports per 1 litre (on 100-percent spirit recalculation) | 700 | ||||
| 2208 | Spirits beverages, except for imported vodkas under code ATGAA 2208 | factory price (without value added tax and excise tax) |
30 percent, but not less than 250 drams per litre |
||
| in case of imports of goods – the customs value | 30 percent, but not less than 600 drams per litre | ||||
| imported vodkas under code ATGAA 2208 | customs value | 30 percent, but not less than 500 drams per litre | |||
| 2402 (except 2402 10 00011 2402 90 00011 2402 10 00012 2402 90 00012) |
Manufactured tobacco | for domestic production 1000 pcs |
9,410 | 10 820 | 12,445 |
| in case of imports of goods 1000 pcs | 11 070 | 12 730 | 14 640 | ||
| 2402 10 00011 2402 90 00011 |
cigar | 1000 pieces | 623 150 |
641 300 |
659 450 |
| 2402 10 00012 2402 90 00012 |
cigarillo | 1000 pieces | 16 995 | 17 490 | 17 985 |
| 2403 (except 2403 99 90 090) | Manufactured tobacco substitutes | 1 kg | 1,545 | 1,590 | 1 635 |
| 2403 99 90 090 | Manufactured tobacco | for domestic production 1000 pcs |
1 955 | 2 295 | 2 635 |
| in case of imports of goods 1000 pcs | 2 300 | 2 700 | 3 100 | ||
| 2709 | Crude oil and oil materials | 1 ton | 27000 | ||
| 2710 12 | gasoline | 1 ton | 40,000 AMD | ||
| 2710 (except 2710 12, 2710 19 710 – 2710 19 980) |
diesel fuel | 1 ton | 13,000 AMD | ||
| 2710 19 710 – 2710 19 980, 3403 19 100 0, 3403 19 900 0, 3403 99 000 0 |
lubricating oil | customs value | 50 percent, but not less than 400 drams per 1 kg | ||
| 2711 (except 2711 11 and 2711 21) | Oil gases and other gas-like hydrocarbons (except for natural gas) | 1 ton | 1000 | ||
For goods with spirit concentration over 40 percent, the tax rate shall increase by 7.5 drams for each percentage point exceeding 40 percent and for spirit concentration up to 9 percent, the rate is set at 100 drams per litre.
Goods that are produced in the Republic of Artsakh classified under codes ATG AA 2207, bottled goods and 2208 (except 40% and non-bottled brandy with high alcohol content, non-bottled brandy taxed, classified under code ATG AA 2208 20, as bottled goods), persons who pay excise tax, as well as organisations and (or) private entrepreneurs which do not pay excise tax, in case of alienation in the Republic of Artsakh (including free) the sale price of such goods (including excise tax and (or) value added tax) shall not be less than AMD 5 500 for 1 litre with 100-percent spirit recalculation.
For goods that are produced in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic classified under codes ATG AA 2207, bottled goods and 2208 (except 40% և non-bottled brandy with high alcohol content, unbottled brandy and in the Republic of Armenia, classified under code ATG AA 2208 20 – bottled goods in Armenia), persons who pay excise tax, in case of alienation in the Republic of Armenia (including free) the sale price of such goods (including excise tax and (or) value added tax) shall not be less than AMD 6 000 for 1 lite with 100-percent spirit recalculation.
Goods that are produced in the Republic of Artsakh classified under codes ATG AA 2207, bottled goods and 2208 (except 40% and non-bottled brandy with high alcohol content, non-bottled brandy taxed, classified under code ATG AA 2208 20, as bottled goods), persons who pay excise tax, as well as organisations and (or) private entrepreneurs which do not pay excise tax, in case of alienation (including free) the sale price of such goods (including excise tax and (or) value added tax) shall not be less than AMD 6 000 for 1 litre with 100-percent spirit recalculation.
In case of alienation of bottled goods, classified under codes ATG AA 2208 20 by persons who pay excise tax, the sale price of such goods (without excise tax and value added tax) shall not be less for 1 litre with 100-percent spirit recalculation.
1) up to 3 years including drinks in aging process from AMD 5,000;
2) from 4 to 5 years including drinks in aging process from 5,500 AMD;
3) from 6 to 7 years including drinks in aging process from 6,000 AMD;
4) from 8 to 10 years including drinks in aging process from 9,000 AMD;
5) drinks in aging process more than 11 years from 14,000 AMD.
When the excise tax defined for 1 tonne of petrol and in accordance with the established procedure calculated sum of the value added tax is less than AMD 135000, then the excise tax shall be increased to an amount at which the sum of both excise tax levied on 1 tonne of petrol and of the value added tax to be equal to AMD 135000.
The following shall not be subject to excise tax:
- alienation (sales), of products exported from the Republic of Artsakh and subject to excise tax;
- goods subject to excise tax imported into and exported from customs territory of the Republic under customs regimes established in the manner stipulated by the Republic of Artsakh customs legislation, which differ from “Imports for free circulation” regime;
- imports and alienation of goods subject to excise tax that have been transferred to the state under the right of inheritance or transferred to the state due to being declared as ownerless, as well as confiscated in the manner stipulated by legislation;
- quantity of goods or the amount not exceeding customs value that are free on excise tax, imported to the Republic of Artsakh by the individuals who are not private entrepreneurs, as defined in customs legislation;
- Supply of non-bottled cognac with 40% and high spirit to legal persons or natural persons who manufacture cognac.
As a rule, excisable goods are under special state control. Particularly:
The Government of the Republic of Artsakh shall define the procedure for tax control and registration in the territory of the Republic of goods classified under codes ATG AA –2204, 2205, 2206, 2207, 2208, 2402 that are produced in the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, including a special procedure and requirements for registering sales volumes, as well as requirements for the labelling of such goods, for the template, provision, use and return of stamps, as well as for the sale of stamped goods.
The procedure for customs control and registration of goods imported to the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (except for the Republic of Armenia) that are classified under ATG AA – 2204, 2205, 2206, 2207, 2208, 2402, as well as the requirements for the labelling of such goods, for the template, provision, use and return of stamps, and for the sale of stamped goods shall be defined by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.
The following shall be submitted to the tax authority for the purpose of acquiring excise stamps:
– two copies of an application;
– copy of a document certifying the payment of fees for acquiring excise stamps;
– a statement on the use of acquired excise stamps, in the layout defined by the tax authority;
– copies of settlement documents for acquiring spirits obtained as raw material by the producers (including bottlers);
– copies of the license, of the receipt certifying the payment of annual state duty and the conformity certificate (if mandatory).
Excise stamps shall be provided based on the above-mentioned documents and a statement on production capacity studies conducted by tax authorities at the production site. The tax authority shall provide excise stamps within seven working days upon the day of submission of the documents. Excise stamps shall not be provided, if the production capacities do not meet the required quantity as of the date of submitting the application, and if the overpayment of excise tax is less than the amount to be paid for the required stamps. In this case, the application may be partially granted, in proportion to the amount of overpayment or the production capacities.
100 dram, 50 dram and 25 dram shall be paid for acquiring one excise stamp respectively for ethyl spirit products, for alcoholic drinks products and for tobacco products, all subject to mandatory stamping in the Republic of Artsakh.
The amount paid by taxpayers for acquiring excise stamps shall be deemed as a prepayment for the estimated excise tax.
In case goods classified under 2204, 2205, 2206, 2207, and 2208 codes are alienated as a raw material by the excise tax payers, a settlement document provided by the tax authority shall be filled-out in a mandatory manner, at the request of a buyer, which serves as a basis for the buyer to make a set-off provided other conditions required by law for set-off are met.
The settlement document shall be filled-out in five copies per transaction. Two copies of the filled-out settlement document shall be furnished to the buyer, whereas the producer and the receiver of the settlement document shall each submit one copy to the tax authority of the place of registration of the organisation on or before the 15th day of the month following the transaction for the purpose of further surveillance.
Persons receiving settlement documents are obliged to submit to the relevant tax authority a calculation as of each month regarding the receipt and use of settlement documents, till the 15th day of the month following the given month.
Excise tax calculation and payment terms
Excise tax paid for goods is subject to excise tax imported to the Artsakh Republic within 10 days from the day of import. No calculation for excise tax shall be submitted to tax authorities in this regard.
Each month shall be deemed as a reporting period for calculating the excise tax for excisable products produced in the Republic of Artsakh and for paying thereof. The calculation of excise tax for each month shall be submitted to a tax authority and the amount of the accrued tax shall be transferred to the budget before the 20th day of the month following the given month.