In accordance with the Fiscal Code in Romania, a series of products intended for certain types of uses are exempted from payment of excise duties.

Classification regarding exemption from payment of excise duties:

General exemptions

Products subject to excise duty are exempted from payment of excise duties if intended for use:

• under diplomatic and consular arrangements;
• by international organisations recognised as such by the public authorities in Romania and by the members of these organisations.
• by armed forces of any State Party to the North Atlantic Treaty, other than Romania, for the use of those forces, for the civilian staff accompanying them or for supplying their messes or canteens;
• for consumption, under an agreement concluded with third countries or with international organisations, provided that the agreement concerned is permitted or authorised with regard to VAT exemptions.

Special exemptions

• products subject to excise duty, which are supplied by tax-free shops and carried in the personal luggage of travellers who are travelling by air or by sea to a third territory or third country.
• products supplied on board of an aircraft or a ship in the course of a flight or sea crossing to a third territory or third country.
• products subject to excise duty, which are supplied by tax-free shops in Romania, situated outside airport or port premises, which are carried in the personal luggage of travellers to a third territory or third country.

Exemptions for ethyl alcohol and other alcoholic products

• ethyl alcohol and other alcoholic products listed in Article 335(2)(a), when they are:
• completely denatured;
• denatured and used for the manufacture of products not intended for human consumption;
• used for the production of vinegar;
• used for the production of medicines;
• used for the production of flavours for the preparation of foodstuffs and non-alcoholic beverages with an alcohol strength not exceeding 1,2% vol.;
• used for medical purposes in hospitals and pharmacies;
• used directly or as a constituent of semi-finished products for the production of foodstuffs filled or otherwise, subject to certain legal requirements;
• used in manufacturing processes provided that the final product does not contain alcohol;
• as samples for analysis or for necessary production tests, or for scientific purposes.

Exemptions for manufactured tobacco

• manufactured tobacco, when solely intended for scientific tests and for tests connected with product quality.

Exemptions for energy products and electricity

• energy products supplied for use as fuel for the purpose of air navigation other than in private tourist flying;
• energy products supplied for use as fuel for the purpose of navigation within Community waters and of inland waterway navigation, including fishing, other than navigation by private pleasure craft. Electricity produced on board a craft is also exempted from payment of excise duties;
• energy products and electricity used to produce electricity and electricity used to maintain the ability to produce electricity;
• energy products and electricity used for combined heat and power generation;
• energy products – natural gas, coal and solid fuels – used by households and/or by charitable organisations;
• motor fuels used in the field of the manufacture, development, testing and maintenance of aircraft and ships;
• motor fuels used for dredging operations in navigable waterways and in ports;
• energy products injected in ovens or other industrial machinery for chemical reduction, as an additive to the coke used as main fuel;
• energy products entering Romania from a Member State or a third country, in the standard tank of a motor vehicle, intended for use as fuel for that vehicle;
• any energy product drawn from the State reserve or the mobilisation reserve, granted free of charge for humanitarian aid purposes;
• any energy product used as fuel for heating by hospitals, sanatoriums, retirement homes, orphanages and other social care establishments, educational establishments and places of worship;
• electricity produced from renewable energy sources;
• electricity obtained from power batteries, mobile generating sets, electrical installations in vehicles of any king, stationary DC power supplies, power installations located in the territorial waters, which are not connected to the electricity grid and power supplies with active installed power below 250 kW.

In order to have the excise duties paid to the State budget refunded, the authorised warehouse keeper submits an application to the territorial tax authority where they are registered as taxpayer, accompanied by the following documents:

• a copy of the acceptance document certified by the representative of the territorial customs authority;
• a copy of the document attesting to the fact that the products concerned were acquired from the receiving tax warehouse;
• a copy of the document attesting to payment of excise duties to the State budget.

After the economic operator has submitted the documentation, the tax authority will, within 30 days of the submission of the application, decide on the right to have the excise duties refunded by issuing a decision to fully or partially admit, or to reject, the request for reimbursement.

Types of products for which excise duties can be refunded:

• for energy products that are contaminated or accidentally mixed, inadequate or qualitatively degraded, and sent back to a tax warehouse for recycling, excise duties paid to the State budget may be refunded at the economic operator’s request;
• for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products withdrawn from the market because their condition or age renders them unfit for human consumption, or which no longer meet the statutory marketing requirements, excise duties paid to the State budget may be refunded at the economic operator’s request;
• for goods on which excise duties have been paid in Romania and which are subsequently exported or supplied within the Community, the person who carried out the intra-Community export or supply may claim a refund of excise duty;
• for products subject to excise duty returned to the tax warehouse, paid excise duties may be refunded.

Value of excise duties refunded

The amount of the excise duties refunded may not exceed the amount actually paid to the State budget. The time limit within which an interested person can exercise their right to claim an excise duty refund is the limitation period of the right to claim the refund, as regulated by the Code of Fiscal Procedure.

Excise duties are special taxes levied directly or indirectly for consumption of the following products:

• alcohol and alcoholic beverages: beer, wines, fermented beverages other than beer and wines, intermediate products (still or sparkling fermented beverages), ethyl alcohol
• manufactured tobacco: cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos, smoking tobacco;
• energy products and electricity: fuel for engines, fuels for heating, natural gas, coal, coke and lignite.

Excise duty rate and calculation

The excise duty rate applicable as of 1 January of each year is that specified in Annex 1, as updated with the consumer price increase rate in the past 12 months, which is calculated in the month of September of the year preceding the application year. As an exception, the excise duty rate for cigarettes is applied as of 1 April of each year and is specified in Annex 1.

Excise duties are calculated in accordance with the detailed rules implementing the Fiscal Code.

Payment of excise duties to the State budget

In Romania, excise duties must be paid by the twenty-fifth day inclusive of the month following that in which excise duties become chargeable, except where another deadline for payment is expressly provided for. Excise duty payers must register with the competent authority.

Exceptions from payment of excise duties:

• For authorised electricity or natural gas suppliers, the deadline for payment of excise duties is by the twenty-fifth day inclusive of the month following that of invoicing to the final customer.
• For importation of a product subject to excise duty, which is not under a suspension regime, the excise duty is paid on registration of the customs import declaration.
• any person who is in one of the situations set out in Article 340(4) to (7) of the Fiscal Code must pay excise duties within 5 days of the date when they become chargeable;
• In the situations set out in Article 340(1)(b) and (c) of the Fiscal Code, the excise duty must be paid on the working day following that on which the excise declaration was filed.

All persons paying excise duties are responsible for calculating the correct amount and paying it to the State budget by the statutory deadline, and for submitting the excise declarations to the competent authority by the statutory deadline.

Exemptions from excise duties

• General exemptions
• Special exemptions
• Exemptions for ethyl alcohol and other alcoholic products
• Exemptions for manufactured tobacco
• Exemptions for energy products and electricity