The world of wine, seen from the e-commerce channel perspective, is a vast and fascinating universe—full of potential and still largely to be explored.
E-commerce is a well-established sales channel. While it hasn’t always experienced strong growth, it continues to bring satisfaction to many players in the wine sector. Without delving into statistics (I’ll leave that to Marco Baccaglio and his excellent I numeri del Vino), I want to focus instead on the fiscal and administrative practices adopted by producers, wineries, and wine merchants, especially regarding VAT and excise duties.
As any good advisor would ask: Is the client applying the regulations correctly?
VAT: OSS Simplifies Intra-EU E-Commerce
As far as VAT is concerned, we can confidently point to July 1, 2021 as a key date: the OSS system was introduced, implementing EU Directive No. 2455/2017.
The OSS system provides a number of advantages for businesses engaged in intra-EU e-commerce. To cite a few benefits, as outlined by the Italian Revenue Agency:
-
Businesses can register electronically for VAT in one Member State for all eligible sales of goods and services to consumers in the other 26 Member States.
-
They can submit a single OSS VAT return and make one VAT payment covering all their EU cross-border sales.
-
They can interact with a single tax authority, in one language, regardless of the number of countries in which they operate.
At this point, we can say: problem solved—at least as far as VAT is concerned.
Excise Duties: A More Complex Scenario
But what about excise duties? The path here is far less straightforward.
It’s important to clarify that the EU OSS mechanism does not apply to excise duties. Sellers cannot use OSS to pay excise tax in the country where the goods are shipped—that is, the EU Member State where the private customer is located and placing an order through the company’s website.
So, how can a seller fulfill their excise obligations in the destination country?
Only by either:
-
Registering directly in the destination Member State and requesting an excise code, or
-
Relying on a third party who already holds an excise code and can handle the shipment and complete the e-AD (electronic administrative document) requirements.
Practical Impact: Heavy Burdens and Legal Risks
These regulatory requirements—largely overlooked by both national and European lawmakers—create significant human, administrative, and financial burdens for businesses selling wine (or other excise-taxed alcohol products) via distance selling. Often, the compliance costs render such sales uneconomical and unsustainable.
Due to the complexity and weight of these obligations, many sellers—whether producers or resellers—unknowingly engage in non-compliant practices, failing to meet excise obligations in the destination country.
It goes without saying: these practices expose entrepreneurs to significant legal and financial risks, often without them even realizing it.
The Solution: Fiscal and Operational Alignment
To properly manage e-commerce sales from both a fiscal and administrative standpoint—and to give entrepreneurs both peace of mind and accurate insight into their profit margins—a thorough compliance review is essential.
This means coordinating with the client, the company’s tax advisor, and the logistics provider responsible for shipping.
Only through careful end-to-end oversight of the entire transaction can businesses determine whether cross-border e-commerce within the EU is a path worth continuing, correcting, or refining—possibly through complementary commercial strategies.
