ECJ case law related to the tax payer on the excise duty on cigarettes when the cigarettes have been transferred to another Member Estate for commercial purposes
Mr. Stanislav Gross took acquired cigarettes in Germany from an organization which is engaged in the smuggling of cigarettes that have been released for consumption in a Member State other than Germany, for the purpose of resale in Germany without paying the excise duty.
Mr. Gross was sentenced by the German authorities, but appealed and the court asked the following question to the ECJ. If under Article 9.1 of Directive 92/12 must be interpreted that owes excise anyone who belongs products with commercial purposes in a Member State that have been released for consumption in another Member State, or be interpreted if only the person who firstly holds the product in the Member Estate of destination would be considered as tax payer.
The court held that Article 9 of Directive 92/12 must be interpreted in conjunction with Article 7 of that Directive, so will be liable to pay the excise duty all holders of the products in question, even if that person had not been first holder of such products in the Member State of destination.
ECJ of 3 July (Case C-165/13)
