European Commission initiates infringement procedure

We represented our client in a complaint procedure before the European Commission over the infringement of EU laws on the excise duty exemption of ethyl alcohol used to manufacture medicines by the provisions of the Polish Excise Tax Act.

The procedure before the Commission, initiated in 2013, concerned the provisions of the Polish Excise Duty Act which do not provide for a direct excise duty exemption for alcoholic beverages imported from third countries even though the relevant exemption was introduced (on certain conditions) for Intra-Community acquisitions from Member States and for domestic transactions.

The procedure initiated by the Commission may contribute to the Polish Excise Duty Act being amended and consequently may enable the pharmaceutical industry to simplify the supply chain for raw materials used to manufacture medicines imported to Poland.

Poland argued in the procedure before the Commission that the Polish law comply with EU law, it being possible to import goods under a duty suspension arrangement to a tax warehouse and then apply the exemption when the procedure is completed, and held that it initiated the procedure under article 258 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union: http://ec.europa.eu/atwork/applying-eu-law/infringements-proceedings/infringement_decisions/index.cfm?lang_code=EN&r_dossier=20164007&noncom=0&decision_date_from=&decision_date_to=&active_only=0&title=&submit=Search

The matter was handled by experts from DZP’s Tax Practice: Artur Nowak, Partner, Jan Czerwiński, Tax Manager, and Paweł Suchocki, Senior Tax Consultant.