Non-taxable purchase amount from abroad. Russian customs has changed the rules for processing parcels from foreign online stores. What does it mean

The Eurasian Economic Commission has approved new limits for duty-free importation of goods for personal use. These rules also apply to Russia. It is on them that you need to focus if you are going to order goods in foreign online stores or bring them from a trip.

The media write that the limits for orders with delivery have been reduced to 500 and even 200 euros. This is true, but it does not work yet - from January 1, 2018, duty-free limits have not changed.

This is very bad for the media, which needs to fulfill the traffic plan. It is very difficult to attract people to news that will only happen in a year or two. But it's good for buyers. Let's go through the documents.

Parcels from foreign online stores

Now the duty is not payable if parcels for personal needs from a foreign store weigh up to 31 kg and cost no more than 1,000 euros per person per month. The same limit will remain in 2018. There were rumors that he would be greatly reduced and even included such calculations in the budget, but so far the rules will not change.

Limits for ordering without duties will be reduced in stages:

Ekaterina Miroshkina

economist

from January 1, 2019 - up to 500 euros;
from January 1, 2020 - up to 200 euros.

The weight limit for 2019 will not change and will be 31 kg - it is considered together with the packaging. But in 2020 there will be no monthly limit. The main thing is that one parcel should cost no more than 200 euros. So far so, but still can change.

What about the fees when the limit is exceeded?

Now for orders from foreign stores, the limit is calculated not for each parcel, but for a month. If it exceeds the upper limit for duty-free import, you will have to pay extra. Previously, it was difficult for customs to control the volume of orders for each person, now it is elementary - with the help of TIN.

If the limit is more than the norm, you need to pay a fee:

until 2019 - 30% of the cost of the parcel, but not less than 4 euros per 1 kg of weight over the limit. That is, both weight and price are important for calculating the duty;
from 2020 - 15% of the cost, but not less than 2 euros per 1 kg of overweight.

If, when ordering in some online store or when making a delivery, you are asked to pay extra, allegedly due to a decrease in the duty-free limit, do not take our word for it - demand a document. And then check if it works.

Import of goods by any means of transport except aircraft

If you are traveling from a trip by car or train, you can also import goods duty-free within the value and weight limits. Now and throughout 2018, the duty does not need to be paid when importing goods worth up to 1,500 euros and weighing up to 50 kg.

Then the limits will be lowered:

from January 1, 2019 - 1000 euros or 50 kg;
from January 1, 2020 - 750 euros or 35 kg;
from January 1, 2021 - 500 euros or 25 kg.

Air import

For air transport, they decided not to change the limits for the coming years at all - without duties from abroad, you can import goods worth 10 thousand euros or weighing up to 50 kg.

For the delivery of goods by car or by plane, the duty is always 30% of the cost, but not less than 4 euros per 1 kg of weight over the limit. So far, it has not been reduced even for 2020.

Are these limits for all products? Even for alcohol and cigarettes?

No, these are limits for goods that are brought or ordered from abroad for personal needs. You can order as many TVs, sneakers and gadgets as you like from the online store without duties, if the cost of the parcels fits into the monthly limit for price and weight. When the weight and time limit is lifted, you will need to fit into the cost limit for one parcel.

But there are products that are not considered personal use, even if you carry or order them for yourself. For example, more than 250 g of black caviar or 5 kg of fish, more than 200 cigarettes or 5 liters of beer are no longer personal goods. It’s definitely not possible to pass off a solarium or a hairdressing chair as a thing for personal use - you will have to pay a fee, and maybe even a tax.

Who sets these standards? What else is the EEC and what do we have to do with it?

These norms are established by a special commission for members of the EAEU - the Eurasian Economic Union. We recently ratified the common customs code. The Commission decides which certificates to issue, which general rules to comply with, how to mark goods and what to collect duties on.

The Commission sets an upper limit for duty-free importation of goods, but the government of a particular country may lower these limits. Some countries take advantage of this - for example, in Belarus, although the same EEC decision is in force, the duty-free import limit is only 22 euros. Anything more expensive is taxed. In Armenia, the limit is also less than the standard one. And in Russia, such a limit, as set by the commission, is the maximum possible.

Hello dear readers;) Today we will talk about customs duties on the import of goods into Russia in 2018. I want to dispel all the fears of those who still believe that only 3 items or 3 goods can be ordered from China or from Ebay, and if more, then you need customs to pay. If you don’t think so, then it’s good, but many people ask me this question in the comments on articles on the business of selling goods from China and in private messages! I'm tired of answering and now I will give a link to the article.

Dispelling fears

In order not to idle talk, I directly copy the information from the Russian customs website.

“Upon receipt in international postal items within a calendar month of goods, the customs value of which exceeds 1,000 euros, and (or) the total weight of which exceeds 31 kilograms, customs duties and taxes are subject to payment in respect of such excess at a single rate of 30% of the customs value of goods, but not less than 4 euros per kilogram of their weight.

That is, if you order goods from China, for example, from Aliexpress or from America, for example, from Ebay, then the main thing is that there should be no more than 1,000 euros per month for 1 address and one recipient, which is approximately equal to the current euro exchange rate at 70,000 rubles.

How to bypass customs duties on importing goods from abroad

I am a law-abiding citizen of my beloved country and do not advise avoiding taxes!

1. You can simply order to different addresses and different people. For example, for yourself and for mom, dad, friend for 900 euros))

2. I do not advise doing this!!! Ask sellers to quote a price below 1,000 euros. This will not work in principle, because if the parcel is lost, it will not be possible to reimburse its full cost, since the declared one will be lower! And yet, very smart people work in customs and you won’t be able to reduce the amount by 2 times, but if you have a discrepancy of only 100 bucks, then such trifles can be reduced.

3. Order through intermediaries. They import goods through customs, legally, but you don't have to deal with it yourself. For this, intermediaries take a small percentage (usually 10%).

But it was not there

As Novaya Gazeta wrote a few days ago, the customs wants to introduce a customs duty on all parcels in the amount of 10% of the customs value of the parcel, regardless of its weight or price. And here it will no longer be possible to apply the first 2 points, but it will be possible to apply a lot of other things, although the second point is quite suitable! I myself am against such an introduction and I want to keep from 1000 euros, since I often order from both Ebay and Aliexpress.

Conclusion!!!

Do not look for excuses that it is unrealistic to do business in the sales of goods from China because customs duties! Everything is more than real;)

And most importantly, what I want to add is this! Subscribe to the blog so as not to miss the most interesting articles and tips.

What do they offer?

The Vedomosti publication, citing its sources, writes that the FCS sent a proposal to the Ministry of Finance to impose a duty on purchases any cost in foreign online stores. Such a “proposal to improve cross-border trade” should add 25 billion rubles a year annually and at the same time “make Russian Internet commerce more competitive.”

The measures will be very tough. In particular, the FCS proposes to reset the threshold for duty-free purchases in foreign online stores in one or two years. Reduce the customs duty from 30 to 20% and introduce a combined rate of at least 1 euro per 1 kg, as well as a 20% fee for commercial goods cheaper than 200 euros. In addition, cross-border trade needs to be subject to technical regulation requirements in order to “secure” buyers from purchasing, for example, GPS trackers.

So far, only parcels in excess of the current limits are subject to duties in Russia - total cost which for a month more than 1000 euros and weight over 31 kg. It is interesting that earlier at the level of the EAEU countries they already agreed to gradually reduce duty-free limits - according to the Customs Code of the EAEU from 2019 to 500 euros, and from 2020 to 200 euros. At the same time, countries, in accordance with the law, will also be able to adjust rates in the direction of tightening limits.

However, the budget would not benefit much from raising the limits, because parcels in small packages, as they are called by customs officers and postal operators, are mainly sent to Russia. They cost literally a penny and weigh nothing.

As Timur Maksimov, deputy head of the FCS, noted in an interview with Vedomosti, lowering the duty-free threshold will not solve the problem of the imbalance between Russian and cross-border Internet commerce. According to him, 95% of Internet parcels in Russia do not exceed the threshold of 30 euros in value, and, according to the Russian Post, in 2017, out of 283 million foreign parcels, only 0.02% cost more than 200 euros.

What will happen?

The introduction of a new tax, first of all, will not please the Russians themselves, because in this case, even a penny spinner or a hair clip ordered from AliExpress will simply not be profitable. In addition, this literally endangers micro-businesses that buy the necessary small things from Chinese retailers, as well as unregistered Vkontakte and Instagram stores that sell clothes and shoes from their hands.

But even worse, it threatens to collapse at the post office. Today there are simply no resources to check each postal item and calculate the duty on it. The press service of the Russian Post has already commented on this as follows:

“Reducing the duty-free threshold to 200 euros without changing the technology of collecting fees will almost completely block the process customs clearance international mail and worsen the quality of service for the delivery of goods for the population. In addition, the costs of administration are likely to exceed the effect in the form of fees collected.”

It is also worth mentioning that today there is no mail effective method track the number of parcels arriving at the address of one recipient during the month. Usually this is done manually - the customs officer at the post just tries to remember and write out frequently encountered names.

The Ministry of Finance has developed another option to reduce the threshold for duty-free import of parcels from foreign online stores. RBC was told about this by three sources in the e-commerce market. According to a new draft government decree prepared by the department (available to RBC), from July 1, 2018, parcels with a total value of more than €500 per month and weighing more than 31 kg will begin to be subject to duties. From July 1, 2019, the threshold will be €100 and 31 kg per shipment, but not more than €200 per calendar month to one individual.

According to one of RBC's interlocutors, the draft resolution is now being discussed, but the document must be agreed before July 1.

How are fees charged for online parcels?

Now in Russia, the duty is not levied on goods purchased on the Internet from abroad, the total cost of which is less than €1,000 per month, and the weight is lighter than 31 kg. Above this amount, the duty is 30% and not less than €4 per kilogram. In December 2017, the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EAEC) agreed to reduce customs limits for the import of parcels into the territory of the participating countries. According to this decision, the maximum threshold for duty-free import of postal items should be €500 from January 1, 2019.

The representative of the Ministry of Finance did not answer RBC's questions about the new draft resolution. Earlier, the press service of the Ministry of Finance said that the option of gradually lowering the threshold was being discussed, “so that this decrease would not be sharp for consumers and would not be a burden on Information Systems and employees of Russian Post, Federal customs service(FTS) and express carriers. “The first step in this direction will be to lower the threshold to €500 from July 1, 2018, as previously envisaged. The relevant draft resolution is now [under] consideration by the government. Various options are being considered for a further reduction - lowering the threshold to €200 from January 1, 2019 or from July 1, 2019,” said a representative of the press service of the Ministry of Finance.

In April, the Ministry of Finance presented the first version of the draft resolution, which proposed to impose duties on parcels from foreign online stores more than €500 per month from July 1 of this year, and from January of the next - goods sent by mail from online stores more expensive than € 200. However, this document has not yet been approved. In June, the Kommersant newspaper reported that the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications were discussing an option in which the duty-free threshold for purchases from foreign online stores would be reduced to €500 from January 1, 2019, as originally planned, but from July 1 next year the threshold would be €100.

step over the threshold

The Russian government has been discussing lowering the duty-free threshold for several years overseas online shopping. In particular, the draft budget for 2018-2020 envisaged its reduction to €20. In October last year, Russian Post proposed introducing duties for goods over €200 by 2019 and over €20 by 2021. In mid-June, the FCS came up with a proposal to introduce duties for all goods purchased by Russians in foreign online stores in a year and a half. At the same time, the FCS proposed to reduce the amount of the duty to 20% and extend the requirements of technical regulation to cross-border trade goods. The service expects that such an innovation will bring up to 25 billion rubles to the budget. in year. As Timur Maksimov, deputy head of the FCS, explained at the conference "Customs Regulation in Russia" hosted by the Vedomosti newspaper, the ultimate goal of these measures is to equalize the working conditions in the market. The proposed model may have an "ambiguous effect" on consumers, but "a slight increase in price should be offset by the guarantee and quality of imported products," Maksimov said.

Artem Sokolov, president of the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT), says that its members "have always supported solutions that will create a level playing field in the market," which includes the proposal to lower the duty-free threshold. “First of all, Russian manufacturers will benefit from the decision, for which sales will become more transparent. Buyers will also benefit: stores in the face of increased competition will try to improve the quality of service and offer,” he said. At the same time, the head of ACIT believes that the latest scheme proposed by the Ministry of Finance corresponds to the state's ability to administer duties.

Alexander Ivanov, head of the National Association for Distance Selling (NADT), opposes lowering duty-free imports. He believes that the proposal is unprofitable for the budget, as it "will provoke the development of smuggling and move the cross-border e-commerce industry into a gray area." “The idea of levying duties based on the amount of one parcel is rational, since it is easier to determine. However, the threshold of €100 is too low and affects most of the purchases,” says Ivanov.

According to one of the participants in the e-commerce market, it is not clear from the scheme proposed in the new draft resolution how the fee will be charged when the limit is exceeded from July 1, 2019. “Will online platforms be able to collect it on their own during the ordering process, what will be the size of these duties,” RBC’s interlocutor noted. According to him, it will be difficult to administer parcels with a monthly limit of €200, since there are a lot of such parcels. “It is this part that looks the most vulnerable. It will be necessary to identify all buyers and maintain registers,” he said.

For almost the entire 2018, the issue of reducing the amount without a duty limit on online purchases was actively discussed. At the same time, all this time, rather contradictory and often unreliable information was received from the Federal Customs Service, the Government of the Russian Federation and associations Russian entrepreneurs about the timing and methods of future changes. But on this moment it can already be confidently stated that from January 1, 2019, the threshold for calculating the fee has changed.

The current customs limit and the amount of duties in 2019

From the beginning of 2019, duty-free for private use during the month, you can import goods for a total amount of up to 500 euros and weighing no more than 31 kg. If these limits are exceeded, the duty will be 30% of the excess value or 4 euros for each overlimit kilogram. In this case, we are talking about delivery by international mail. For personal transportation of purchases by road and air transport, other limits apply.

Example 1 A Canon digital camera with a kit lens was ordered in the amount of 800 euros. In this case, the customs payment will be (800 euros - 500 euros) * 30% = 90 euros.

Example 2 When buying ceramic tiles in Italy, it turned out that its total weight was 35 kg, while the cost was at the level of 400 euros. In this case, you will have to pay a fee for excess weight (35 kg-31 kg) * 4 euros = 16 euros.

If the parcel exceeds the limits both in value and in weight, then a larger fee is payable.

It is important to take into account the following nuances.

The parcel must be intended for private use, which also includes the use of the goods by close relatives and members of the same family. Thus, the limit does not apply to professional industrial equipment. Also, if there is a large amount of the same product in one parcel (usually from 4-5 pieces), then this can be regarded by the customs officer as a commercial batch, and therefore the mentioned duty-free limit does not apply in this case either.
For the purchase of food products in foreign online supermarkets (cheese, ham) there are other weight restrictions - 5 kg for personal consumption. More in the article.
The limit does not apply to dimensional indivisible goods, the weight of which exceeds 35 kg. As a rule, we are talking about furniture. In this case, the duty will be calculated on the entire value of the goods (its amount depends on the category of goods), and you will also have to pay 20% VAT and excise taxes, if applicable.
If earlier the FCS did not have an efficient accounting system for absolutely all parcels passing through all goods checkpoints, which made it possible to bypass the limits, now the control methods have been seriously improved. Often, the customs authorities receive information about the real value of the goods already at the time of its sale. Also, in some cases, the TIN control method is used. In 2019, the "crushing" method continues to operate big order into several small ones and sending them to the name of various individuals(relatives, friends). For example, a family of 2 can place orders up to 1000 euros per month. It is only important that the amount per person does not exceed 500 euros.
The value of the goods in the parcel is assessed as customs declaration and invoice, and according to the subjective assessment of the customs officer, who will rely on market valuation their cost. Thus, if the customs officer suspects that the amount in the declaration does not correspond to the real value of the goods, then he can delay the shipment until the buyer provides evidence to the contrary (an invoice from the store, a screenshot of the price, etc.). As a result, if a slight understatement of the declared value in the range of 1-2 hundred euros can also help you avoid paying a fee, then it is best to refrain from outright deception when it comes to exceeding several thousand euros. Read more about ways to bypass customs restrictions in the article.
The customs limit is the same for all delivery methods to Russia: , EMS, private courier services(DHL, FedEx). But at the same time Express delivery implies a more complex procedure, which involves the collection of a package of documents showing the real value of the goods.

Prospects for changing customs duties in 2020

According to the information that gets into the media and published by official bodies, it can be concluded that in the coming 2020, the customs limit will again be changed downward. At the same time, the most reliable estimate of the future decline is as follows.

The duty-free limit will be reduced to 200 euros, but for one parcel. The weight limit will remain unchanged, i.e. 31 kg.
The number of parcels per month will not be limited, that is, the total amount of purchases may well exceed 1,000 euros, it is only important that each of them fit into a new small limit.
If the cost of the shipment or the weight exceeds the new norms, it is proposed to set a duty of 15% or 2 euros for each kilogram of overweight.
It is assumed that when buying from Aliexpress, payment of duties can be made right at the time of ordering on the site. Also, a similar opportunity will be available through the Russian Post.
There was no complete rejection of the idea to additionally impose VAT on foreign purchases, which is 20% in 2019, and therefore it is very likely that the idea will be implemented in the coming years.

Thus, as of 2019, there has been a real reduction in customs limits, but the idea of introducing VAT on foreign products still looks vague and not fully thought out.