Further to the budget discussions of the Belgian government, for the year 2013, the Belgian government plans to implement the following measures :
- Excise duties on ethyl alcohol, all alcoholic drinks (except for beer), and smoking tobacco will increase by approximately 12 %.
In terms of alcohol, the special excise duty increases as from 1 January 2013
- For still wine and other fermented drinks (except for beer) from € 47,0998 to 57,75 per hectolitre;
- For sparkling wines from € 161,1308 to € 180,5000 per hectolitre;
- For ethyl alcohol from € 1.529,1312 to € 1.738,8958 per hectolitre absolute alcohol.
In terms of manufactured tobacco, the most important measures, as from 1 February 2013, are as follows:
- Smoking tobacco: the specific excise duty increases from € 11 to € 12 per kg;
- Cigarettes: the specific excise duty increases from € 9,3581 to € 15 per 1.000 pieces , but the ad valorem special excise duty decreases from 6,7 % to 4,47 % of the retail price.
- ‘Eco taxes’ applicable on batteries, throw-away photo cameras or packaging for inks, glues or solvents will be abolished as from 1 January 2013.
We advise the companies concerned to check whether it would not be more cost-efficient to consider a release for consumption of taxable goods before (e.g. alcohol) or after year-end (e.g. batteries).
