Author: Ivan Ivanov
One type of tax, which is usually imposed on consumer products, is called excise tax. Excise taxes are something similar to customs duties, but apply to products sold within the country, while customs duties are intended for products imported from abroad. For the state, such taxes are one of the important sources of budget replenishment.
Goods that are subject to excise taxes are defined at the legislative level and are listed in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In addition to such well-known excisable goods as alcoholic beverages and tobacco, gasoline also falls into this category. The excise tax on fuel largely determines the level of prices for other products. Excise taxes are included in the price of goods, so changes in the level of this tax are primarily felt by the end consumer.
However, gasoline, like other excisable goods, belongs to the group of products that will be purchased regardless of its cost.
What is taxed and who must pay
According to Article 179 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, individual entrepreneurs and legal entities are recognized as excise tax payers.
In addition, other persons moving excisable goods across the border of the EAEU are required to pay excise tax. As for the objects of taxation, here it is worth referring to Article 182, which equates the following operations to them:
- Sales on the territory of our country of goods that are recognized as excisable. It is noteworthy that sales should also be understood as the free transfer of such products.
- Sales of confiscated excisable products.
- Transfer of excisable goods to the owners of the raw materials from which these goods were made, just like other persons. Objects of taxation can also include the receipt of excisable goods as payment for services for their production and the transfer of such products for processing.
- Transfer within the enterprise of manufactured excisable goods for further production of goods not subject to excise taxes. The exception is straight-run gasoline, which is intended for further use in the petrochemical industry.
- Transfer on the territory of our country of manufactured goods intended for one’s own needs, as well as transfer of such items to the authorized capital or as contributions. The transfer of goods when a person leaves the organization as a share is also subject to taxation.
- Import of similar products into the territory of the Russian Federation.
- Receiving straight-run gasoline, as well as posting it.
Excise taxes on petroleum products
The list of excisable petroleum products (Article 181 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) includes motor gasoline, diesel fuel, motor oils for diesel and (or) carburetor (injection) engines, and straight-run gasoline. Straight-run gasoline refers to gasoline fractions obtained from the refining of oil, gas condensate, associated petroleum gas, natural gas, oil shale, coal and other raw materials, and products of their processing, with the exception of motor gasoline. The gasoline fraction is considered to be a mixture of hydrocarbons boiling in the temperature range from 30 to 215 degrees Celsius at an atmospheric pressure of 760 millimeters of mercury.
On January 1, 2003, a new excise tax system was introduced for transactions involving petroleum products:
— posting by an organization or individual entrepreneur who does not have a certificate of petroleum products independently produced from its own raw materials and materials (including excisable petroleum products), receiving petroleum products into ownership in payment for services for the production of petroleum products from customer-supplied raw materials and materials (the date of the transaction is recognized as the date recording of produced petroleum products);
