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Selling wine in Europe: The Excise Duty Challenge

The payment of excise duties within the context of distance selling to private individuals in the European Union represents a major challenge for micro, small, and medium sized enterprises of the Independent Winegrowers. For almost twenty years, CEVI has been working to remove these fiscal barriers that hinder cross border trade and constitute a crucial issue for the dynamism of the European market.

Through this action, CEVI defends the direct access of winegrowers to consumers within the EU Single Market and advocates for the administrative simplification essential to the sound development of independent estates.

Understanding Excise Duties

Within the EU Single Market, excise duties are taxes payable upon the release for consumption of alcoholic beverages. In the case of cross border distance selling to EU individuals, when the company and the consumer are located in two different Member States, excise duties must be paid to the authorities of the country of destination. This can be achieved through a tax representative (often the carrier) who must be remunerated, even if excise rates are zero as it is the case in certain Member States. The alternative solution is to place the fiscal procedures on the consumer via a declaration to be provided to their national customs. The authorities then issue a certificate of excise duty consignment, which the consumer must personally transmit to the winegrower. On the winegrowers’ side, administrative procedures are complex to grasp and burdensome to implement: maintaining entry and exit registers, issuing documents specific to each sale, and navigating different national tax systems. The error free application of these obligations is time consuming and often a source of concern.

Concrete example: A Belgian individual purchases wine online from an Italian winegrower and wishes to receive it at home

By accepting this sale, the Italian producer agrees to fulfil all obligations related to the State of destination, such as customs formalities, payment of transport costs, and naturally, the payment of excise duties. These must be settled in Belgium at a rate fixed at the national level, even if duties may have already been paid in Italy.

To achieve this, before each shipment, the winegrower must personally set up a guarantee, determined according to the goods shipped. They then draw up a commercial document which must include proof of this financial guarantee. Once delivery is complete, the Italian winegrower is required to file an electronic declaration of release for consumption via an automated system, for which they must be personally registered with the Belgian National Social Security Office. Excise payment must then be made to a specific account requested from the customs administration, and records of the delivered goods must be maintained. Finally, upon proof of payment in Belgium, the winegrower can apply in Italy for a refund of the duties initially paid in their home country. In addition to these standard duties, the professional must be aware of additional taxes and contributions specific to the destination country : in this instance, a packaging contribution specific to the Belgian market, varying according to whether the packaging is disposable or not.

For every new Belgian order, this heavy administrative process must be repeated in full. If the same winegrower wishes to deliver to a client in another European country the following day, they must then comply with a different set of requirements.

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CEVI's Action: twenty years of commitment

For almost 20 years, CEVI has called for the creation of a one stop shop, on the model of the existing VAT portal, to allow excise duties payments without additional formalities in the country of destination.

2006: CEVI joins the European Commission’s Excise Consultative Group (Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union, DG TAXUD), which brings together representatives of stakeholder organisations dealing with products subject to excise duties.
November 2007: At the initiative of CEVI and its Spanish member, MEP Esther Herranz tables a written question to the Commission on the difficulties encountered by small wine producers when exporting within the EU.
European Commissioner for Taxation László Kovács responds that “the Commission is aware of the burdens [affecting small producers], notably through the 2006 public consultation on the revision of the Community excise legislation.”
April 2008: CEVI launches a coordinated advocacy initiative with its members through a letter addressed to the Permanent Representations of the Member States, the European Commission, and Members of the European Parliament concerned by the issue. The letter notably calls for the introduction of a simplified exemption scheme aimed at easing procedures for intra-EU distance sales to private individuals.
2012: In their Booklet No. 4, the Independent Winegrowers of France warn of the difficulties caused by excise payments in intra-Community trade for individuals and formulate reform proposals.
2015 – 2017: The European Commission publishes an Evaluation in 2015 and a Study in 2017 on existing arrangements for excise products, warning of the fiscal costs involved (notably through the use of intermediaries), the complexity of administrative steps, and their disparity across Member States. The need for simplification in distance selling is highlighted, specifically via a one stop shop.
2019: The adoption of the new European Directive 2020/262 (replacing Directive 2008/118) now exempts consignors from the mandatory use of a tax representative in the Member State of destination (Article 44.3). The removal of this historic barrier is a victory, facilitating direct access to European market, even if excises settlement still involves heavy administrative formalities in practice.
2020: The Final Evaluation Report of Directive 2008/118/EEC published by the Commission reiterates the difficulties winegrowers face in marketing wine to another Member State and the impact of administrative barriers on cross border sales. It mentions the possibility of establishing a central portal to declare, account for, and pay excise duties in all Member States.
2021: An EU VAT Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) is launched, proving the technical viability of such a simplification at a European scale.
March 2022: Approached during their visit to the Independent Winegrowers’ stand at the International Agricultural Show, French ministers and MEPs from the Wine Intergroup send a letter to the Commissioner for Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, requesting the creation of the “one stop shop system for excise duties”.
Autumn 2022: The Commission announces that the Fiscalis Programme working group (18 Member States) is beginning to study the possibility of implementing a one stop shop for excise duties, based on the VAT system.
April 2024: Enrico Letta, former Italian Prime Minister and President of the Jacques Delors Institute, explains in his “Much more than a market” report on the Single Market that “In the area of excises, there is an even wider room for improvement. Economic operators involved in distance selling of excise goods in the EU complain of highly obstructive barriers, which disproportionately affect SMEs, such as small wine producers.”
December 2024: The High Level Group (HLG) on wine policy recommends that the Commission accelerate the development of solutions aimed at simplifying and facilitating cross border distance sales of wine, by implementing a system comparable to the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), which could be particularly advantageous for small producers.
December 2024: The Commission publishes a page on its website centralising links to national excise rules; this provision of information is positive but remains, in practice, highly insufficient regarding simplification.
2025: The Fiscalis Programme working group works on the architecture of the future one stop shop where all the procedures (declaration of movements via EMCS, payment of excise duties via the one stop shop) would be carried out in the Member State of origin.
October 2025: MEP Eric Sargiacomo, Co-President of the Intergroup on “Wine, Quality Foodstuffs and Spirits”, questions the Commission on the Fiscalis programme’s work progress, the planned timetable, and the envisaged legislative vehicle to implement the one stop shop for excise duties.
November 2025: In response, Wopke Hoekstra, European Commissioner for clean growth, explains that the Commission will examine the conclusions of the Fiscalis group’s work once published, with a view to simplifying the legal framework and removing fiscal obstacles to the functioning of the internal market. It will then analyse in detail the cost-benefit ratio of the proposed solutions before considering amendments to the relevant legislation.
Today: CEVI is in regular contact with the Commission, particularly with the Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD), which is studying a solution based on a one stop shop system for excise payments in the departure country.

The Confederation, which is part of the Excise Contact Group organised by the Commission, continues to advocate for the one stop shop creation to enable excise duty payments without further formalities in the destination country.

“Mario Draghi is right when he says: ‘High internal barriers are far more damaging for growth than any tariff.’ The Single Market was born to tear down barriers between our countries. To erase customs and duties. And to make business easy inside Europe. We must go back to that idea and fulfil it.” Ursula von der Leyen.

A one stop shop to remove fiscal barriers and enable SME access to the European internal market

Today, the system for the payment of excise duties constitutes a barrier to distance selling within the EU. Not all winegrowers, and especially SMEs, have the resources to use a tax representative or maintain sales departments in different EU countries. Without such resources, there is a high risk that the sale will not be completed, as in the era of instantaneous online purchases, potential clients are often discouraged by an overly lengthy purchasing process. This is particularly true for small Independent Winegrowers, whose wine sales to individuals are relatively small in volume, generally ranging from 6 to 12 bottles.

The current excise regime hampers the export ambitions of small producers. Simplifying the settlement of excise duties would significantly lighten the administrative and financial burden currently weighing on their businesses, and unlock strong potential for direct sales that are currently restricted. The demand is real : in 2024 in France, for example, more than 6 out of 10 Independent Winegrowers were exporting, with 96% of them selling within the EU. Among those not exporting, nearly half were tempted to do so, primarily toward European countries; this simplification could thus be their gateway to the internal market. This loss of earnings is corroborated by a 2020 European Commission report, which highlights that the opacity of national systems and the complexity of procedures make cross border sales almost impossible for entities with limited resources like Independent Winegrower businesses.

CEVI therefore advocates for a solution addressing both the lack of information and the disproportionate additional costs caused by excise payments: the creation of a one stop shop (modelled on the VAT Import One-Stop Shop IOSS) allowing for the payment of excise duties on distance sales of alcoholic beverages without administrative formalities to be performed in the Member State of destination.

By simplifying the payment of excise duties, the European Union would finally enable micro and small and medium-sized Independent Winegrowers to move beyond complex administrative management and focus on their core business: producing and promoting the value of their terroirs.

A strategic challenge for territories and the Single Market completion

Beyond administrative simplification, this solution will allow Independent Winegrowers to develop their activities, particularly those related to vineyard reception and wine tourism. By facilitating shipments following visits to the winery, the one stop shop would support local economies and enhance the international visibility of wine-growing regions.

For Member States, removing these barriers would limit the tax revenue loss from sales that currently do not take place. Eliminating such trade barriers would contribute to “unlocking the Single Market” as President von der Leyen called for in March 2025, ensuring genuine freedom of movement for wine products within the Union.

Independent Winemakers: Passion for the Vine.