The National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted on September 6, 2023 the Law on Amendments and Additions to the Law on Excise Duties, which will be in force as of October 1, 2023.
The most important novelties include:
- an increase in the amount of excise duty on oil derivatives, tobacco products, and alcoholic beverages, as well as coffee and liquids for filling electronic cigarettes by 8%;
- introduction of excise duty on natural gas for final consumption, used as fuel for driving motor vehicles and for heating. This change will come into force on January 1, 2025.
- introduction of a centralized information system “e-akciza”, which will enable tracking of excise duty products, cigarettes and non-burning tobacco from the producer/importer to the end user of excise duty products. The “e-akciza” system is applicable starting from October 1, 2024;
- introducing a control excise duty stamp with a QR code within the “e-excise” system, which will be applied only to cigarettes and non-burning tobacco. The obligation to mark products with control excise stamps containing QR code starts from January 1, 2025;
- introduction of the register of importers of alcoholic beverages and coffee – the law stipulates the obligation to register importers of alcoholic beverages and coffee before releasing these goods into free circulation, and the obligation to keep this register is entrusted to the Customs Administration;
- an excise duty is introduced on a new product – nicotine pouches, which will be subject to excise duty from January 1, 2024;
- a refund of paid excise duty is introduced on oil derivatives – diesel fuel and biofuel, which are used for agricultural purposes to drive agricultural machinery – the aim of this refund is to reduce the costs of agricultural producers – agricultural farms and natural persons – holders of family farms, who are registered in the register of agricultural farms.
