Taxation dates back to the 5th c. BC when Greece and Egypt taxed supplies of goods. One form of sales taxes are excise duties, a form of taxation which is applied to one unit or a given quantity of the same product. The reasons for the introduction of excise duties are primarily fiscal as a good source of income for the state. Since its independence, the Republic of Croatia has changed the tax system and introduced excise taxes that did not exist during the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, namely excise taxes on oil, alcohol, tobacco, beer, coffee, motor vehicles, non-alcoholic beverages and luxury goods (from 1999). With the Croatian accession to the European Union (EU), the state had to harmonize the excise system in accordance with EU guidelines. The harmonized excise tax system includes alcohol beverages, tobacco products, energy and electricity. If we look at the financial impact of the excise tax and the resulting budget revenues, the share supplied by excise taxes is growing year by year. The most significant revenue from excise duties was levied on oil derivatives and tobacco products. In the monitored period, excise taxes accounted, on average, for 12% of the total, and 17% of tax revenues in the budget. Excise revenues have increased from year to year, and have increased their contribution to budget revenues. Excise duties are the most abundant source of revenue (along with VAT) in the budget of the Republic of Croatia. Therefore, excise taxes serve a primarily fiscal role.