Procedure for the Termination of Criminal Investigations Within the Excise Sector Introduced: Perpetrators May File Termination Requests by Settling Four Times the Initial Payable Excise Values

In 1996, the government issued Regulation of the Government No. 55 of 1996 on the Investigation of Criminal Acts Within the Customs-and-Excise Sector (“Regulation 55/1996”) which, as its title suggests, addresses the applicable mechanism for the investigation of crimes that take place within the excise sector (“Investigations”). However, in the wake of the introduction of Law No. 7 of 2021 on the Harmonization of Tax Regulations, which amended various aspects of Law No. 11 of 1995 on Excise (collectively referred to as “Law 11/1995”), the government has now decided to issue Regulation of the Government No. 54 of 2023 on the Termination of Criminal Investigations Within the Excise Sector in the Interests of State Revenue (“Regulation 54/2023”), which has been in force since 22 November 2023.[1]