The Customs Administration of the Czech Republic is a state administration body that collects customs duties and excise and energy taxes, performs certain security tasks and checks compliance with various obligations. It was established by Act No. 17/2012 Coll., on the Customs Administration of the Czech Republic.[1]
Organization
The Customs Administration has two levels. The first is the General Directorate of Customs, based in Prague; the second consists of six customs offices: in Prague, Plzeň, Liberec, Brno, Ostrava and the Customs Office for the Central Bohemian Region. The superior body of the Customs Administration is the Ministry of Finance.[1]
Staff
The Customs Administration employs approximately 5,300 people. Of these, about 3,900 are customs officers and 1,400 are civilian employees. Customs officers serve under the act on the service of members of the armed forces, specifically Act No. 361/2003 Coll. The employment relationship of civilian employees is governed by the Labour Code.[1]
Customs duties and customs procedure
The Customs Administration assesses and collects customs duty on goods imported from countries outside the European Union. In customs procedure it decides whether goods are released into the customs territory of the EU and under which customs regime. It decides in a similar way on the export of goods from the EU or their transit through EU territory, and in doing so checks compliance with prohibitions and restrictions. Duty is collected on the basis of submitted customs declarations.[1]
Of the duty collected, 80% goes to the budget of the European Union as a so-called traditional own resource and 20% to the budget of the Czech Republic. In total, approximately CZK 11 billion in customs duty is collected each year.[1]
Because the Czech Republic borders only EU states, its customs border is in practice limited to international airports, and most goods imported from non-EU countries are therefore placed under the transit regime at the external border of the Union. The goods are then carried to the Czech Republic, where customs offices carry out the customs procedure, decide on release into the relevant regime, and assess and collect the duty. A similar procedure applies in reverse order when goods are exported outside the EU. The Czech Republic is part of the EU customs union, and European Union rules therefore apply directly on its territory.[1]
Excise and energy taxes
The Customs Administration assesses and collects excise duty on mineral oils, raw tobacco, tobacco products, spirits, beer, wine and intermediate products. The energy taxes it also collects include the tax on electricity, the tax on natural gas and certain other gases, and the tax on solid fuels.[1]
The administration of excise and energy taxes also covers the licensing of tax warehouses, the issuing of tobacco stamps, inspection of the conditions under which tax warehouses are operated, inspection of equipment for the production of alcohol and alcoholic beverages, and supervision of the transport of goods from another EU member state that are subject to excise duty but are temporarily exempt from it during transport.[1]
The Customs Administration collects approximately CZK 166 billion in excise and energy taxes each year.[1]
Divided administration
The Customs Administration also collects and enforces certain fines and fees imposed by other administrative bodies where they have not been paid voluntarily.[1]