On July 1, 2019, the excise duty came into force, approved by Law no. 8/19, of April 24, having been amended by Laws no. 18/19, of August 13 and Law no. 16/21, of July 19 - Excise Duty Law.
The excise duty is calculated on the transactional value, in the case of goods produced in the country, or on the production cost, in the case of petroleum derivatives, on the import value, in the case of imported goods.
Duty rates vary between 2% (most petroleum derivatives and plastic bags) and 50% (firearms).
For carbonated drinks, alcohol and alcoholic beverages the rates vary between 3% and 15%, for vehicles the rates vary from 5% to 20%.
With the excise duty it became mandatory to add a the tax stamp to manufactured beverages, tobacco and its substitutes.
“The excise duty led to an inevitable price increase in the products on which it affects, penalizing those goods that are considered to be harmful to society.”
Similar to what happens in other countries, the excise duties in Angola have as purpose:
To discourage the consumption of certain products or goods because they are considered superfluous and harmful to health and the environment.
To increase the revenues for financing of public expenditures.
- Correct negative externalities, resulting from unwanted consumption damage.
The following goods are subject to excise duties:
Harmful to health
Tobacco and its derivatives
Alcohol and alcoholic beverages
Beverages containing added sugar or other sweetening
Harmful to the environment
Vehicles, including collection vehicles
Petroleum products
Considered superfluous
Jewelry
Art and collection objects and antiques
Fireworks
Firearms
The implementation of excise duties was part of the reform on the Angolan tax system that also carried out the VAT implementation.
The implementation of VAT does not dismiss the maintenance of a separate level of consumption taxation which has as its purpose the increase of taxation of certain goods, intended to compensate the State for the social or environmental costs induced by their consumption.
Thus, whenever a good is subject to excise duty, the amount of excise is part for the taxable value in terms of VAT. This means that despite both taxes having different scopes of application, VAT will be levied on the value of the asset plus excise duties.
It is undeniable that excise duties are a major advance in the Angolan tax system. However, its implementation generated doubts, such as:
- Am I an excise duty taxable person?
- Is there any exemption for the goods that I import or produce?
- What is the amount on which I have to calculate the payable tax?
- What obligations will I have to fulfill and what is their deadline?
- How should I organize my accounting system?
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