Moldova will review its excise tax system as part of its harmonization with EU standards: the economic effect of the innovations is estimated at 86.2 million lei by 2030
The Ministry of Finance has submitted for public consultations a revised draft amendment to Section IV of the Tax Code, which provides for comprehensive harmonization of the national excise duty system with EU legislation. As noted in the explanatory memorandum, the initial version of the draft was aimed at transposing four EU directives in the field of general excise duties, excise duties on alcohol, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco products, and was approved by the government in June 2025. However, in November 2025, parliament returned the draft for revision, after which it was declared invalid on procedural grounds. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance initiated a separate bill concerning excise duties on energy products and electricity, transposing Directives 2003/96/EC and 95/60/EC. In this regard, it was decided to combine both areas of excise duty regulation into a single updated draft and resubmit it for approval and review. The new version of the draft provides for significant changes in excise regulation, including updated definitions, rules for the circulation of excisable goods, the procedure for exemption from excise duties, requirements for the labeling of alcohol and tobacco products, as well as rules for the remote sale and destruction of excisable goods. A separate set of changes concerns energy products. The draft introduces a detailed list of such goods with Combined Nomenclature codes, including gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, gas, fuel oil, coal, and other types of fuel. It also provides for the possibility of imposing excise duties on products used as fuel, even if they are not directly included in the list of excisable goods. The document also establishes a mechanism for the annual indexation of excise duties on energy products and electricity depending on the euro exchange rate for October, with the updated rates applying from January 1 of the following year. The approval of the updated draft is expected to bring national legislation into line with European standards, increase the transparency and predictability of excise policy, and create a unified and modern taxation regime for excisable goods. The economic impact of the proposed changes on the state budget is expected to be positive and amount to 86.2 million lei. At the same time, it is noted that the increase in excise rates on tobacco products (cigars, filter and non-filter cigarettes, cigarillos and cigarettes containing tobacco substitutes, smoking tobacco, finely cut tobacco for rolling cigarettes, as well as other processed tobacco and tobacco substitutes) will have a positive budgetary impact of approximately 62.5 million lei, and the application of excise duty on electricity will bring 23.7 million lei to the budget by 2030. Consultations on the draft are being held until February 23: https://shorturl.at/mcXj7. // 02.18.2026 — InfoMarket
