Taxes on Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages

Alcoholic and alcoholic beverages

Ethyl alcohol and spirits are subject to the Tax on Alcohol and Derived Beverages.

The tax is levied in mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. However, it is not required in Ceuta or Melilla.

In the Tax on Alcohol and Derived Beverages you can benefit from the exemption assumptions common to all Special Manufacturing Taxes and those common to Taxes on Alcohol and Alcoholic Beverages.

In addition, the regulations of this Tax contemplate additional exemption assumptions, applicable only with respect to this Tax, which include, among others, alcohol not intended for human consumption or converted into alcohol not suitable for human consumption by the addition of chemical products (denaturants), alcohol intended for the manufacture of medicines, for scientific research or for teaching and scientific purposes.

You may obtain a refund of the amounts paid for this tax, in the cases of refund common to all special manufacturing taxes provided for in article 10 of the Special Taxes Law and those common to taxes on alcohol and alcoholic beverages provided for in article 22 of the Special Taxes Law. .

Likewise, in relation to the products subject to the Tax on Alcohol and Derived Beverages, an additional case is recognised for the refund of the quotas of this tax corresponding to the alcohol used in manufacturing processes in which it is not possible to use denatured alcohol, provided that it is not incorporated into the product resulting from the process.

The application of exemptions and refunds is subject to compliance with the conditions and requirements established in the regulations governing Excise Duties.

The taxable base of the tax is constituted by the volume of pure alcohol, at a temperature of 20 C , expressed in hectoliters, contained in the products subject to the tax.

The applicable tax rate is set out in article 39 of the Excise Tax Law, and is a fixed amount, expressed in euros, per hectolitre of pure alcohol.

In the case of the Canary Islands, the tax rate established in article 23 of the Special Taxes Law applies.

The regulations governing this Tax establish specific management rules, which include, among others:

• The use of portable devices for the production of alcohol is prohibited.
• Application of certain specialties in the circulation of pharmaceutical specialties containing alcohol
• Raw materials entering alcohol factories may not have any other destination than their use in the production of alcohol.
• Application of specific standards for alcohol factories, factories producing derived beverages and factories producing alcoholic extracts and concentrates.