Below is the third part summarizing the changes to the Excise Tax Law, which were enacted on December 1, 2022 We also invite you to read the first and second parts of the article.

Summary e-DD

According to the draft law, regulation was planned and is currently implemented, according to which, in the case of the movement of energy products covered by the excise tax exemption by one means of transportation – to more than one consuming entity or receiving place of the same consuming entity – it is possible to prepare one draft e-DD or a document replacing the e-DD for all consuming entities or receiving places of the same consuming entity.

Until now, the Excise Law lacked a provision explicitly defining the rules for the use of e-DD. Taxpayers’ doubts arose, among other things, in the case where the receiving entity to/from which excise goods are moved had several receiving locations. Moreover, the legislator, following the simplification, introduced the following possibility: the types of receipts specified in Article 46j(3) of the Excise Law may be used for bulk e-DD regardless of whether the receiving entity is a user of the EMCS PL2 System.

Eligible consignee and consignor – changes

The law of December 9, 2021. (Journal of Laws 2021.2427), effective February 13, 2023, was to introduce to the Excise Law Article 2, paragraph 16c, paragraph 16d. These provisions refer to new definitions in terms of:

• authorized consignor – this is an entity with an excise number, which sends excise goods outside the excise duty suspension procedure as part of an intra-Community delivery on the basis of an e-SAD or a document replacing the e-SAD, in connection with a business activity, including a tax warehouse operator or a registered consignor;
• an authorized consignee – that is, an entity holding an excise number that receives excise goods under the intra-Community acquisition procedure outside the excise duty suspension procedure on the basis of an e-SAD or a document replacing an e-SAD, in connection with a business activity, including an entity operating a tax warehouse or a registered consignee;

The above amendment of December 9, on the same date, was also to introduce Chapter 3b, concerning the excise number of the authorized consignee and authorized consignor on the territory of the country. This chapter clarifies the procedure for assigning an excise number and who is required to obtain one. It also clarifies issues related to one-time intra-Community transactions, the obligation to inform about changes in the data covered by the application for the granting of such a number and defines when an excise number expires, as well as indicating the authority competent for excise numbers.

These definitions have been introduced, but according to the latest draft amendment – effective January 1, 2023.

The date was also postponed for provisions:

• imposing on the authorized consignee, the sending foreign entity and the taxpayer, referred to in Article 78(3) of the Law, the obligation to submit an excise tax security;
• allowing, at the request of the above-mentioned entities, the submission of such a security by a carrier and forwarder, a consignee of excise goods and a natural or legal person registered by the competent authorities of a Member State of the European Union, who dispatches excise goods to the territory of the country from the territory of a Member State outside the excise duty suspension procedure;
• allowing the submission of a joint security;
• introducing rules for determining the amount of the general security lodged by the authorized consignee, the sending foreign entity and the tax representative and carrier or freight forwarder.

The new effective date is January 16, 2023, instead of February 13, 2023, as originally planned.

The current wording of the law also implies changes in the determination of the local jurisdiction of the head of the Tax Office. According to it, in the case where the authorized consignor is subject to registration, i.e. is an entity performing activities subject to excise taxation or activities with the use of excise goods exempted from excise taxation due to their intended use, the local jurisdiction of the head of the tax office is determined with regard to the place of performance of activities or occurrence of facts, respectively, subject to excise taxation, or the place of performance of activities with the use of excise goods covered by the exemption from excise duty due to their intended use.

The introduction of such a change can be seen as special in the context of an authorized consignor due to the possibility of maintaining the authority’s jurisdiction in the case of an excise status.

Moreover, a supplementary provision will also be introduced as of February 13, 2023, relating to the documentation submitted together with the application for an excise tax refund by the authorized consignor after an intra-Community delivery of excise goods (from Appendix 2 of the Excise Law). This applies to products moved by means of a system providing for the addition of optional proof of delivery of excise goods moved on the basis of e-SAD.

As you can easily see, the latest draft amendment to the Excise Law is not only entirely new provisions, but also a modification of the previous amendment – mostly, however, only in terms of effective dates.