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The Constitutional Court decided to keep in force the new law "On excise duties", which unified the excise duty on beer producers from January 1, 2023.
With today's decision-making, the Constitutional Court rejected the request of the Association of Producers and Traders of Alcoholic Beverages for the partial repeal of laws no. 81/2022 and no. 94/2023 on excise duties, for the part that provides for the unification of malt beer excise duty for all producers regardless of the amount of annual production. Part of this lawsuit were Irfan Hysenbelliu and Luan Bregasi, who bankrupted Birra Tirana and Birra Korça. Irfan's own media have warned of dismissal of employees after this decision.
In the notification for decision-making, it is stated that the Constitutional Court appreciated that during the trial it was not proven that the legal changes have violated the essence of the freedom of economic activity or put it at risk to the extent that its existence is questioned. In this perspective, the unification of the excise duty does not constitute a disproportionate tool.
NOTICE
The applicant has claimed that this change, which essentially doubled the excise duty for producers up to HL 200,000 per year, violates the freedom of economic activity, the right to property, the principle of legal certainty, as well as the obligations arising from the implementation of Article 70 of MSA.
The Constitutional Court, convened today on 16.07.2024, assessed that the petitioner is legitimized ratione personae to initiate the constitutional trial. Although it was created as an association after the entry into force of law no. 81/2022, the Court appreciated that it bears interest as long as its members are subjects directly affected by the contested legal changes. Regarding legitimization ratione materiae, the Court assessed that the claims presented were constitutional in nature.
Based on the essence and content of these claims, the Court decided to analyze them in their entirety from the perspective of freedom of economic activity, guaranteed by Article 11 of the Constitution, related to the principle of proportionality, provided for in Article 17 of the Constitution.
In relation to the underlying validity of this claim, the Court, not questioning the wide scope of the state's assessment in the field of taxes and duties, assessed that the unification of excise duty constitutes an interference in the freedom of economic activity.
This intervention fulfills the constitutional criteria "established only by law" and "for public interest", provided in articles 11 and 17 of the Constitution.
Regarding the latter, the Court reiterates the position held in its jurisprudence regarding the presumption of the importance of the legislator's objective and the presence of public interest for an effective tax system.
Regarding the analysis of the criteria of the principle of proportionality, the Court took into consideration the discretion of the state in the fiscal field and the duration of 15 years of the differentiated excise duty as a means chosen by the legislator to ease the tax burden for the category of producers of the product malt beer.
The court appreciated that during the trial it was not proven that the legal changes have violated the essence of the freedom of economic activity or put it at risk to the extent that its existence is questioned. In this perspective, the unification of the excise duty does not constitute a disproportionate tool.
At the end of the examination of the case, for the above reasons, the Court decided, by majority vote: Dismissal of the request.
The final decision will be announced as reasoned within the legal deadlines provided by law no. 8577, dated 10.02.2000 "On the organization and functioning of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Albania", as amended by the Regulation on Judicial Procedures of the Constitutional Court", the announcement states.
The production of the country before the fiscal changes was charged with 360 ALL/HL for producers below 200,000 HL, while for production above this level the excise duty was 710 ALL.
After the changes in the law "On excise duties in the Republic of Albania", the tax was unified at 710 ALL for producers under and over 200,000 Hl, both local and foreign.
Unanimously, domestic producers have warned several times that the doubling of the excise duty would not only increase the weight of imported beer on the market, but would lead to bankruptcy of the domestic industry.
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