Excise loss relief rewritten: VA-60 restates VA-144 from 17 September

Excise goods that are irrecoverably lost or completely destroyed can escape excise duty only with a formal recognition decisionE TAR, and the rules for getting one have been rewritten. By the 16 September 2026 order No. VA-60VMI of the head of the State Tax InspectorateVMI, in force since 17 September 2026VMI, the 2011 order No. VA-144, its evidence and decision-making Taisyklės and the FR1113 decision form are restated in a new wordingVMI.

The amendment has two drivers. The Taisyklės now cover non-alcoholic sweetened drinks lost through force majeure for excise reliefVMI; such drinks lost through other circumstances stay outside the rulesVMI. And following the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and questions arising in practice, the provisions for loss in cases other than force majeure — including destruction of goods with a State Tax Inspectorate representative present — have been substantially revisedVMI.

The relief test now turns on diligence and custody. When deciding on exemption, particular attention goes to whether the person took every effort to avoid the loss, and relief is available only for goods held in an excise warehouse under the duty-suspension arrangement and not released for consumptionVMI.

Warehouse keepers seeking relief file a fuller dossier with the request for a decision recognising goods as destroyed or irrecoverably lost. The destruction record for goods lost in an excise warehouse must be drawn up by the warehouse keeperVMI, with content requirements now set for that record. Applicants must state the date defective goods were returned to the warehouseVMI, the date the duty-suspension arrangement was liftedVMI, and the transport document particularsVMI. Where destruction takes place in the excise warehouse and runs more than two consecutive days, destruction schedules and the quantities to be destroyed at each destruction round must be suppliedVMI.

The amended instrument itself sets the surrounding procedure: excise is not calculated where goods are irrecoverably lost, completely destroyed or lost through force majeure in the tax periodE TAR, with overpaid excise refunded or credited where evidence arrives laterE TAR; a decision refusing recognition means excise must be calculated and paidE TAR. Force-majeure recognition decisions are taken within 10 working days on qualifying evidenceE TAR, and a warehouse keeper wanting an Inspectorate representative at the destruction applies within one year of learning the circumstancesE TAR.

Legal basis: Valstybinės mokesčių inspekcijos prie Lietuvos Respublikos finansų ministerijos viršininko 2026 m. rugsėjo 16 d. įsakymas Nr. VA-60, restating the 2011 m. gruodžio 30 d. įsakymą Nr. VA-144 with its Taisyklės and the FR1113 form, announced in the VMI 2026-09-21 letter No. (18.2-31-2 Mr) RTD-104.