Govt will soon consider Finance Ministry's and Tax Service's bill on postponing introduction of eExcise for six months
The Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, together with the State Tax Service, at the request of the Ministry of Digital Transformation, have prepared a draft law on extending the transitional period for the simultaneous use of paper and electronic excise stamps for six months, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said.
As the minister noted during an event on the occasion of the opening of the service tax consultation offices in Kyiv on Monday, the Ministry of Digital Transformation is developing the software product of the eExcise electronic system for circulation of alcoholic beverages, tobacco products, and liquids for electronic cigarettes, which has appealed to the Ministry of Finance and the State Tax Service with a request to postpone the possibility of simultaneous use of both types of stamps for six months.
"We worked on such a draft law together with the State Tax Service. It will be considered at a government meeting in the near future... We understand all the risks, we understand all the consequences (implementation of e-Excise within the previously announced deadlines)," said Marchenko.
According to him, the problems with e-Excise arose due to a reduction in funding from international partners, which affected the pace of software development, as well as attacks on the equipment of state-owned enterprises that participated in the project.
As a representative of British American Tobacco Ukraine (BAT) reported during the event, the company currently sees that the system has turned out to be more difficult to implement than business and the state expected, and is not ready for implementation. According to her, the company is only receiving individual modules for testing, while the full version should be available only from November 1, which leaves enterprises only two months to integrate processes.
She noted that this creates particularly acute risks for the tobacco and alcohol industries, as well as for retail, because October 17 is the last day to order paper stamps. Thus, businesses may find themselves in a situation where the system is not yet operational, and the possibility of using paper stamps has already been exhausted.
As reported, in July 2023, the law on amendments to the Tax Code of Ukraine and other laws in connection with the introduction of electronic traceability of the circulation of alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and liquids used in electronic cigarettes came into force. According to these changes, the eExcise system should be fully operational in Ukraine from January 1, 2026.
However, the stage of software development of the electronic system is still not completed and is in parallel with the testing of its finished elements, so business associations have repeatedly urged the government not to launch the eExcise electronic system without proper testing.
