CELEX: 51987PC0326
Language: en
Date: 1987-08-21
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON THE APPROXIMATION OF TAXES ON MANUFACTURED TOBACCO OTHER THAN CIGARETTES

No C 251 /4                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                                   19.9.87
States have brought into force the national provisions                 They shall forthwith inform the Commission of any
necessary to comply with this Directive.                               provisions of national law which they adopt in the field
                                                                       governed by this Directive.
                             Article 5
Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu-                                              Article 6
lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply
with this Directive not later than 31 December 1992.                   This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
               Proposal for a Council Directive on the approximation of taxes on manufactured tobacco other
                                                            than cigarettes
                                                        COM(87) 326 final I 2
                                   (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 7 August 1987)
                                                            (87/C 251/04)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                               Whereas a proportional excise duty displays special char-
                                                                       acteristics, notably with regard to its multiplier effect in
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                  combination with VAT; whereas, therefore, the
Economic Community, and in particular Article 99                       incidence of the sum of the rates of those two taxes
thereof,                                                               should be harmonized as a proportion of the retail
                                                                       selling prices of the products in question;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                       Whereas the incidence of taxation should be harmonized
                                                                       in the case of all products belonging to the same group
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-                      of manufactured tobacco,
liament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                       HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Social Committee,
                                                                                                 Article 1
Whereas Council Directive 72/464/EEC ('), as last
amended by Directive 86/246/EEC (2), sets out in Title I               The following groups of home-produced and imported
general provisions relating to excise duties applicable to             manufactured tobacco shall be subject, in each Member
all groups of manufactured tobacco; whereas special                    State, to an ad valorem excise duty calculated on the
provisions relating to cigarettes have already been                    basis of the maximum retail selling price of each product,
adopted in Title II of that Directive; whereas special                 freely determined by manufacturers and importers in
provisions still have to be adopted for other manu-                    accordance with Article 5 of Directive 72/464/EEC:
factured tobacco products;
                                                                       (a) cigars and cigarillos;
Whereas Council Directive 79/32/EEC (3) lays down the                  (b) smoking tobacco;
definitions of the different types of manufactured
tobacco;                                                               (c) chewing tobacco;
                                                                       (d) snuff.
Whereas, in order to establish an internal market without
frontiers, the structures of excise duties and VAT need
to be harmonized and their rates brought more closely                                             Article 2
into line;
                                                                       For the purposes of this Directive, the definitions of the
                                                                       products referred to in Article 1 shall be those laid down
Whereas in the case of manufactured tobacco other than                 in Articles 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively of Directive
cigarettes, an excise duty structure proportional to the               79/32/EEC.
retail selling prices is the structure best suited to
achieving that objective;
                                                                                                 Article 3
                                                                       1. Not later than 31 December 1992, each Member
O OJ No L 303, 31. 12. 1972, p. 1.                                     State shall apply an ad valorem rate of excise duty in
(2) OJ No L 164, 20. 6. 1986, p. 26.                                   such a way that the total tax burden resulting from the
(») O J N o L 10, 16. 1. 1979, p. 8.                                   combination of the excise duty and VAT is:
 ---pagebreak--- 19.9. 87                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 251/5
    for cigars and cigarillos:                                   shall be laid down before 1 January 1989 in Directives
    between 34 % and 36 %                                        adopted by the Council acting on proposals from the
                                        of the retail            Commission.
    for smoking tobacco:                selling price
    between 54 % and 56 %               inclusive of all
    for snuff and chewing tobacco:      taxes.                                             Article 5
    between 41 % and 43 %                                        Member States shall bring into force the laws, regu-
2.    These rates shall be effective for all products            lations and administrative provisions necessary to comply
belonging to the group of manufactured tobacco                   with this Directive not later than 31 December 1992.
concerned, without distinction within that group as to
quality, presentation, origin of the products, the               They shall forthwith inform the Commission of any
materials used, the characteristics of the firms involved        provisions of national law which they adopt in the field
or any other criterion.                                          governed by this Directive.
                          Article 4
                                                                                           Article 6
The provisions relating to the arrangements for
collecting the duty and the time allowed for payment             This Directive is addressed to the Member States.