Excise guarantee

The guarantee is not a fee but a safeguard. It covers the duty that would arise if goods held without duty paid were removed from the procedure. Where there are indications that the duty is at risk, the authorisation depends on it; the main customs office sets the amount and reviews it regularly (Section 7 AlkStV).

For the warehouse the calculation follows removals, not stock. The basis is the duty value of the quantity of pure alcohol expected, on an annual average, to be released undenatured into free circulation within 1.5 months, measured at the standard rate (Section 5(1) AlkStG). The arithmetic runs: annual quantity of pure alcohol times the standard rate, divided by twelve, times 1.5. Because it is the duty value that counts and not the purchase value, alcoholic strength moves the result more than the value of the goods.

The guarantee is also not a fixed figure. Where fiscal interests are at risk the main customs office can require it up to the duty value of the actual stock in the tax warehouse plus duty that has arisen but not yet been paid (Section 7 AlkStV).

Two assumptions lead astray. The first is that the guarantee follows the purchase value of the goods. It follows the duty value of removals, and that depends on pure alcohol. The second is that it is a one-off hurdle at the start. It grows with sales and remains tied-up capital or a bond carrying a running commission.

Budgeting too tightly for it risks more than liquidity: if a guarantee that has been requested is not provided, the authorisation has to be revoked (Section 5(3) AlkStG).