The authorities launched their own investigations against tax evasion in sparkling wines

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Spicy wine in supermarkets, which includes the popular Prosecco, looking for inspectors from the Customs Administration and the State Agriculture and Food Inspection. They screen dozens of brands.

At the beginning of the week, the editors of Seznam Zpráv pointed out a “trick” that some wine producers and sellers – especially from southern Europe – can use to avoid tax obligations in the Czech Republic. The certified laboratory Lipera from Velké Bílovice tested 15 samples of “sparkling” wines, usually sold in shopping centers. According to the overpressure measurement results, one third of the test samples should be in the section vinegar. Incorrect labeling can lead to tax evasion.

Part of sparkling wine that is under wine is still subject to zero rate, on the other hand, the payer pays 2340 crowns for one hectoliter of sparkling wine.

As can now be seen from the comments of customs officials and the food inspection, the authorities themselves have been dealing with the incentive for possible tax evasion in connection with the wrong classification of wine since summer.

The Customs Administration launched an investigation in mid-July and is investigating 42 tax bodies, particularly wine transporters from other European Union member states. “The method of taxing selected wines (prosecco wine in particular) is being investigated.” 20 wine samples were taken to determine whether the wine is sparkling or still. Currently, the examination of all the samples taken has not been completed yet, so the results are not available,” said Hana Prudičová, spokesperson for the General Directorate of Customs.

According to her, the partial results revealed problems in only a fraction of the wines. Due to confidentiality obligations, customs officials are not specifying which companies and their products were targeted. “However, so far, with one exception, these suspicions have not been confirmed. If tax administrators find errors in wine taxes, they will proceed through legal methods aimed at determining the correct tax rate,” she said.

Customs administration comes under Ministry of Finance. Their staff did not want to comment on the results of the accredited laboratory, which the editors drew attention to. They left the question of whether they are concerned about tax evasion unanswered. “Regarding the frequency and results of checks on traders, it is necessary to contact SZPI and the Customs Administration directly,” answered Petr Habáň from the Ministry of Finance.

Since the second half of August, the Ministry of Agriculture has also been dealing with the initiative from the General Directorate of Customs regarding possible violations of wine labeling regulations. His SZPI deputy director asked for an investigation.

“The study submitted several bottles of selected wines to laboratory analysis and the measured values ​​of excess weight of the wines (including measurement uncertainty) correspond in almost all cases to the sparkling wine category , ie these are satisfactory samples,” said Vojtěch Bílý, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture.

He said that part of the sparkling wines with the specified code name are subject to excise duties as per the Excise Duty Act.

The Food Inspection Agency has previously said that between 2019 and 2024, they examined 66 batches of wine in this regard, 2 samples failed due to excessive pressure. On average, they search about 13 of these brands each year.

The editors also asked if inspections should be more frequent. “SZPI inspections are decided based on a risk analysis,” said the ministry’s spokesperson.

In this regard, the representatives of the food inspection – despite the test results from the private Lipera laboratory – do not see any false risks.

The investigators also admit that they received a request for measurements in Lipera from several groups and took it as a request for an investigation. “SZPI took 11 wine samples in the market network for laboratory analysis, which, according to the above analysis, should have exceeded the maximum permissible weight limit. These were the same products and, where possible, the same production batches as in the study above. The SZPI laboratory analysis confirmed appropriate pressure values ​​for all evaluated wounds,” said the study’s spokesman Pavel Kopřiva.

He also said that the SZPI accredited laboratory works in accordance with the requirements of legal regulations according to the OIV-MA-AS314-02 method, i.e. the procedure for determining excess weight according to the International Office for Wine and Wine. However, they also measured using the same method in the Lipera laboratory.

Even on the basis of his previous studies, the study does not believe that cheating with excess weight is dangerous. “From the above results from the SZPI accredited laboratory, it follows that the undesirable excess weight values ​​of sparkling wines are not a frequent problem on the market, but the SZPI will continue to pay attention to the control of the study of ‘this parameter,” he said. survey spokesman Pavel Kopřiva. From the point of view of the survey, “the most frequent and serious deficiency is the contamination of wine.”

As Seznam Zprávy reported at the beginning of last week, the independent laboratory Lipera measured a pressure higher than 3 bars in five of the 15 samples of sparkling wine mentioned. However, such carbonation corresponds to the category of sparkling wine, which, unlike most sparkling wines, is taxed. So the state can avoid millions in taxes.

Sellers and producers said the wines would be tested.

Wine Growers Union called the result of the “disturbance” test. It intends to propose a European solution in the Tax Directive. “It is possible to separate the category of sparkling wine (1-2.5 bar) from the category of still wine and give the member states the power to tax these wines with a consumption tax,” said the president of the association , Martin Chlad.

At the same time, the battle regarding taxes of all types of wine has been rising in the government coalition for more than a year. While the civil democrats are more favorable, the populists are for taxes still wines they refused.

“If a progressive rate of consumption tax was to be introduced for the aforementioned ‘sparkling wines’, it would have to be introduced for ‘still wine’ according to EU regulations. But the coalition parties of the government have not yet agreed on that,” said the spokesperson of the Ministry of Finance.