Updated Tax Stamp Standard Accepted for Publication

The revision represents a significant update to the first edition published in 2018.

Particular attention has been paid to developments in direct marking and unique identifiers, while the content has been reorganised to make it more accessible to revenue authorities, the principal users of the standard. Improving readability and ease of use, without weakening the guidance, was a major objective of the standard drafting group.

Main changes versus 2018

One simple but significant change between the 2018 version and this one is in the standard’s full title, which in 2018 included ‘excise tax stamps’ but which has now dropped ‘excise’.

This change recognises that these stamps are now used on a wider range of products – consumer and industrial – than the tobacco products and alcoholic drinks subject to excise taxes. The full title of the revised standard, therefore, is ‘Security and resilience – Authenticity, integrity and trust for products and documents – Guidelines for the content, security, issuance and examination of tax stamps’.

The structure of the document has also been revised. In the 2018 edition, the discussion of stamp functions appeared after sections dealing with processes and stakeholder consultation. In the new edition, the recommended functions of tax stamps are presented immediately after the scope and definitions. The intention is to help revenue agencies first consider what they want a stamp programme to achieve before addressing implementation issues.

Revenue collection remains the core function of tax stamps identified by the standard. However, it also recognises the growing importance of traceability and market monitoring, as well as consumer reassurance and engagement through incentive schemes. In addition, tax stamps can contribute to demonstrating compliance with legislative requirements.

The technical content has been expanded in three areas. New material has been added on direct marking and unique identifiers, reflecting the rapid development of these technologies in recent years. The section on digital printing has also been updated to reflect advances in security features that can now be incorporated using digital printing equipment.

Expanded annexes

As well as the changes in the body of the standard, the annexes have been expanded and updated. In ISO terminology, annexes contain supplementary information that would otherwise interrupt the flow of the main text. All of the annexes in ISO 22382 are informative rather than normative, but they nevertheless provide important guidance.

There are two significant additions to the annexes. The annex dealing with authentication features has been divided into separate sections covering physical stamps and direct-marked products, providing more focused guidance on each.

Then a completely new annex addresses the assessment of security features. This addition responds to requests from revenue agencies for a ranking or league table of security technologies.

However, after considerable discussion, the drafting group concluded that no universal ranking is possible because the effectiveness of any security feature depends heavily on the specific threat environment and how it is implemented.

Therefore, instead of assigning scores or ratings, the new annex provides a matrix to help users assess and select appropriate features according to their own operational requirements and circumstances.

When published, ISO 22382:2026 will be available for purchase from ISO (the International Organisation for Standardisation) or your national standards body.