Excise duty on rakija, wine and liqueurs in BiH: who pays, rates, stamps

Excise duty is a state tax on the sale of certain products, including rakija, wine and liqueurs. It concerns wineries, distilleries, liqueur and mead makers, and companies and sole traders that buy rakija or wine from farmers.

In short

• Natural fruit brandy (rakija): BAM 8.00 per litre of pure alcohol.
• Other alcoholic drinks (liqueurs, herbal spirits, anything above 2% alcohol) and alcohol: BAM 15.00 per litre of pure alcohol.
• Wine: BAM 0.25 per litre of product.
• Retail bottles with 5% alcohol or more must carry an excise stamp issued by the Uprava za indirektno oporezivanje BiH (Indirect Taxation Authority, UIO).
• The registered producer calculates and pays the duty, not the shop customer.
• Selling rakija, wine or spirits without a stamp is fined and the goods can be seized (see below).

Who it applies to

• The taxpayer is a legal entity or sole trader that produces or imports excise products. It must register with UIO before starting.
• A citizen-producer is a private individual resident in BiH who makes excise products. The law does not name such a person as a taxpayer, but a company or sole trader that buys rakija, wine or other drinks from them becomes the taxpayer and must be registered.
• The law sets no minimum output below which excise is not due. If you sell rakija or wine directly to consumers or guests, check your status with UIO before the first sale: Regional Centre Mostar, Trebinje customs office.

What to do

1. Register with UIO (entry in the Single Register of Indirect Tax Payers) before you start producing for the market.
2. Notify the production facility and any warehouse for products or raw material. UIO requires notice 15 days before use, with forms PPPA (facility) and PSA (warehouse).
3. Keep a dedicated record of production, sales and stock.
4. State the ingredients, type and quality on the product label.
5. Take excise stamps from UIO for bottles meant for retail. Unstamped product on the market is treated as product on which excise was not paid and may be seized temporarily.
6. File a monthly excise return by the 10th of the following month, even if nothing is payable.
7. Excise is calculated at first sale (invoice or delivery) or when you take over stamps, and is paid within 10 days after the end of the month in which you issued the first-sale invoice or delivered the product (arts. 22 and 23). It is also calculated on shortages. If you are unsure when payment falls due for stamped products, check with UIO.

Deadlines and amounts

• The base is litres of pure alcohol. For packs larger or smaller than one litre the duty is proportional (art. 15).
• Example: 0.7 l of 40% rakija holds 0.28 l of pure alcohol, so duty is 0.28 x 8.00 = BAM 2.24.
• Example: 0.7 l of 20% liqueur holds 0.14 l of pure alcohol, so duty is 0.14 x 15.00 = BAM 2.10.
• Example: 0.75 l of wine, duty is 0.75 x 0.25 = BAM 0.19 (rounded).
• Rakija counts as "natural fruit brandy" only if distilled from fermented fruit juice, mash or pomace, with no added flavourings, ethyl alcohol, sugar or other carbohydrates. Rakija with additions (for example herbal rakija or honey rakija) does not meet that definition, so check whether the higher rate for alcoholic drinks applies.
• Drinks under 5% alcohol need no stamp. Export products need no stamp but must be marked "samo za izvoz" or "for export only".
• Alcohol imported or supplied as raw material to a registered producer of alcoholic drinks is exempt from excise.
• Penalties (arts. 41 and 42): a sole trader faces BAM 1,000 to 20,000, for example for selling before registration, selling bottles without a stamp or paying late; a private individual who puts rakija, wine or spirits on the market without a stamp or without credible documents faces BAM 1,000 to 3,000, plus seizure of the goods. Check your obligations with UIO before the first sale.
• The rates apply under the Law on Excise Duties (arts. 18 and 19), and UIO publishes them on its website.

Where to go

• Uprava za indirektno oporezivanje BiH, Regional Centre Mostar, Trebinje customs office: phone 059 240 192 and 059 240 199, open 08-18 on weekdays and 09-15 on Saturday (see RC Mostar contact page).
• UIO headquarters: Bana Lazarevića bb, Banja Luka, uino.gov.ba.

Laws and sources

• UIO: excise amounts and rates
• UIO: taxpayer and registration
• Law on Excise Duties in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Službeni glasnik BiH 49/09, 49/14, 60/14, 91/17 and 50/22), arts. 8, 12-15, 18, 19, 22-27, 29, 30, 41, 42 (UIO, original text 49/09)
• Unofficial consolidated text of the Law up to amendment 91/17, for information only