The amount of customs duty for online purchases. Russian customs has changed the rules for processing parcels from foreign online stores. What does it mean

We are seeing a little panic, so we probably need to explain what happened and what changes this threatens for users (spoiler: it’s not all that scary). We gave interviews about this to newspapers and the 360° channel. And they forgot to write to GT. We are correcting and clarifying the situation.

What happened

On December 7, a new order of the Federal Customs Service regarding purchases imported from abroad came into force (FCS No. 1861 dated November 24, 2017). Users are now required to provide new data—in particular, tax identification numbers and confirmation of the price of the goods—to help customs track whether they are importing “too much” and whether they should start requiring them to pay duties. This is “an experiment to implement into the Unified Automated information system customs authorities(EAISTO) functions of checking goods purchased by individuals in foreign online stores and delivered by transport forwarding companies and courier services.”

Everything is as usual: the government does not like foreign online purchases: customers who buy goods there cheaply do not pay any additional taxes to the budget. Since 2014, the rules have been actively tightened and the introduction of duties is constantly being discussed. But for now, purchases abroad continue to grow. The share of foreign online trade in Russia at the end of 2017 will be about 40%. This is 420 billion rubles bypassing the Russian treasury. Alexey Fedorov, head of the AKIT association, which united twenty of the largest Russian online stores to lobby their interests, states that “By buying on Aliexpress, you are, in fact, committing theft.”

The duty-free threshold for purchases in foreign online stores is now €1 thousand or 31 kg per person per month. Now it will be easier for customs to monitor whether this limit is exceeded. The FCS also states that the new requirements will reduce “the risks of importing goods through dummies.” New order will be tested throughout the country from December 7, 2017 to July 2018. Users’ passport data, TIN, as well as information about the cost and weight of the goods they purchase in euros and rubles will be stored in EAISTO.

The only people not participating in the experiment are international shipments, sent via Russian Post.

What has changed for you

Not so much. If you took something from foreign online stores, you were probably required to provide your passport information. And now, in addition to them, buyers will need to indicate their TIN and provide links or screenshots to the ordered goods. However, laws on purchasing in online stores change with enviable regularity, and the quality of their implementation may depend on a particular customs officer. For example, with links and screenshots, they already understand that they were overreacting:

As you can see, the Federal Customs Service is not yet very sure what the new rules mean. But the TIN application and a link to the product are enough for now. We are not yet required to attach invoices, screenshots or other proof of purchase. In the Pochtoy.com account there has always been a field for adding a link, but now another one has just appeared next to it - for the TIN. The situation is the same for most other intermediaries. If anything else is required in the future, the support service will contact you.

At customs clearance the cost of goods will be fixed in accordance with the declaration you have completed. Confirmation of the correctness of filling out the declaration on your part is an invoice - a letter confirming payment for the order, which the store sends to you by email.

If the link to a product is “burnt out” (it returns 404, for example), its alternative is a screenshot of the order confirmation page from your personal account in the online store. The screenshot must be taken so that the name, photo, price and quantity of the purchased product are clearly visible. And then upload it to the cloud or file hosting service.

Even if the link doesn’t work, it’s useful to save screenshots and invoices for one more situation. Many of our clients take their goods at discounts. And since the data from the links will be processed by EAISTO at the time the parcel passes through customs, there is a possibility that the price there will be higher. If you literally barely invested in the limit of €1 thousand, and the price increase “went over” you, you may be required to pay a fee - 30% of the amount exceeding the limit. If an iPhone X, which cost a safe €800 somewhere on eBay, turns into €1200 using the same link, you will have to pay an additional €60. It’s a similar story – if the page on the link simply disappeared, and now customs has nothing to check the price with.

In general, notarized screenshots, which the Internet once went crazy over, are no longer a myth, but a reality.

What has changed for us

Not much either. We already advised you to put links so that there would be no misunderstandings. Now we have added a field for TIN. For existing orders shipped via FastBox, Express Mail and Express Light Mail, urgently We add the TIN from those users who entered it into their account or contacted our operators. Those who are not ready to provide their TIN number are offered to switch free of charge to delivery by EMS, USPS Priority or Econom Priority, which operate through Russian Post.

Tech support in the online shopping industry is already having a hard time. And in the coming days we are working in emergency mode. Until the package meets the new requirements, it will not pass through customs, and many users need to be informed about this personally. Plus, we are preparing for a potential time delay while the FCS sorts out its new system. Although the customs service itself assures that this will not happen.

And so, it’s okay, there have been worse laws. We expect the real blow in July 2018, when the limit on purchases from abroad

On December 20, the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission established new rules for the import of goods for individuals for personal use. A decision was made, following which the cost, weight and quantitative standards were determined within the limits of which goods can be imported into Russia and other EAEU countries duty-free. Also, the amount of duties for exceeding the established standards for the import of goods for personal use has been determined.

Briefly about the new duties: From January 1, 2019, the duty-free limit for buyers per month decreased from 1,000 to 500 euros. It is important to know that in some cases, the customs service may also tax the shipping costs.

We are talking about goods that are delivered to the buyer from abroad through international mail or private carriers, including purchases from foreign online stores such as computeruniverse.

According to the decision, from January 1 to December 31, 2018 it is expected maintaining the current limit of 1000 euros and 31 kg within one calendar month.

From January 1, 2019, for one calendar month, without paying customs duties and taxes, it will be possible to order goods totaling up to 500 euros and weighing no more than 31 kg.

From January 1, 2020, duty-free import standards will be reduced to 200 euros and 31 kg. In this case, all restrictions on time and number of orders will be lifted. In 2020, for exceeding the limits you will have to pay 15% of the cost, but not less than 2 euros per 1 kg of “overweight”, which is significantly less than the current standards (30% of the cost, but not less than 4 euros per 1 kg of weight)

At the same time, the countries of the Eurasian economic union may introduce additional restrictions that reduce import standards.

Currently, in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, the threshold for duty-free import is 1000 euros and 31 kg per calendar month, and until the end of 2018, buyers in these countries can rest easy.

Reducing the duty-free threshold for importing goods over 500 euros by land transport

Also, on November 1, news appeared that in 2019 the threshold for duty-free transportation of goods would be reduced threefold by land transport. The document, signed by all five members of the commission on November 1, was published on the EAEU legal portal. The contents are as follows:

EURASIAN ECONOMIC COMMISSION COUNCIL

SOLUTION

On amendments to the Decision of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission of December 20, 2017 No. 107
In accordance with paragraph 6 of Article 256, paragraph 11 of Article 260, paragraphs 2, 3, 6 and 8 of Article 266 of the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission decided:
1. In paragraph 2 of Appendix No. 1 to the Decision of the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission of December 20, 2017 No. 107 “On certain issues related to goods for personal use” the words “from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 inclusive - the cost does not exceed the equivalent of 1 000 euros, and (or) the weight does not exceed 50 kg; from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 inclusive - the cost does not exceed the equivalent of 750 euros and (or) the weight does not exceed 35 kg; from January 1, 2021 - the cost does not exceed the equivalent of 500 euros, and (or) the weight does not exceed 25 kg" replace with the words "from January 1, 2019, the cost does not exceed the equivalent of 500 euros, and (or) the weight does not exceed 25 kg."
2. In paragraph 2 of Appendix No. 2 to the Decision of the Eurasian Council
Economic Commission of December 20, 2017 No. 107 “On certain issues related to goods for personal use” the words “from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 inclusive - the cost exceeds the amount equivalent to 1,000 euros, and (or ) weight exceeds 50 kg; from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 inclusive - the cost exceeds the equivalent of 750 euros and (or) the weight exceeds 35 kg; from January 1, 2021 - the cost exceeds the equivalent of 500 euros, and (or) the weight exceeds 25 kg" replace with the words "from January 1, 2019 - the cost exceeds the equivalent of 500 euros, and (or) the weight exceeds 25 kg "

Good times for shopping in foreign online stores are gradually ending. The state is pursuing a policy to tighten this area and is gradually reducing duty-free purchase limits. In mid-2018, a not entirely clear situation arose regarding whether the duty-free threshold was lowered once again, as proposed by the Ministry of Finance, or not. Tax on parcels from abroad to Russia in 2018 - what is the monthly limit for duty-free import of goods per person, what duty will need to be paid for exceeding it.

The limit on the cost of parcels from abroad has not increased since July 1, 2018

This is the most important news to know. The fact is that until the second half of June there was general confidence that the duty-free limit had decreased since July 1. Because of this, there are quite a lot of materials on the Internet that explain the new rules for purchasing goods in foreign online stores. However, literally in the last days of June, all this became irrelevant.

The Ministry of Finance of Russia together with the Federal customs service proposed, with regard to parcels from abroad to Russia, from July 1, 2018, to reduce the monthly threshold for duty-free import from 1,000 euros per person per month to 500 euros.

Duty-free limits are regulated at the level of the Customs Union, the creator and inspirer of which is Russia. And according to the rules of this organization, for the entire 2018 there is a limit of 1,000 euros for duty-free import of purchases from abroad per person. However, this is the upper limit of the limit, and each individual state that is part of the organization can lower this limit. This is what the Ministry of Finance and the Federal Customs Service wanted to do.

However, at the very last moment Something in these plans changed, and they did not reduce the duty-free import limits.

On June 29, just a couple of days before the new rules came into force, it was announced that nothing would change until January 1, 2019. The rules for taxing parcels from abroad to Russia until the end of 2018 are as follows:

• there is no duty if the total amount of purchases per person during the month is up to 1,000 euros, and the total weight of parcels is up to 31 kilograms,
• if these limits are exceeded, the duty is set at 30% of the purchase price, but not less than 4 euros per 1 kg of parcel weight.

The 30 percent duty is not charged on the entire volume of purchases made per month, but only on the part that exceeds the limits.

It is these rules that you need to focus on in 2018; they remain relevant until January 1 of the next year.

Photo: pexels.com

How will the tax on foreign parcels change in the coming years?

For the future of 2019 and 2020, we can focus on the norms prescribed in the documents of the Customs Union. Bye Russian state intends to adhere to them, but, as we noted above, “all-Union” norms represent an upper limit, and the state can, at its discretion, lower it at any time.

So, how will the limit for duty-free import of parcels from abroad be reduced:

• from January 1, 2019, one person will be able to order goods for no more than 500 euros per month if he does not want to pay the duty,
• from January 1, 2020, the limit is reduced to 200 euros per month.

On the one hand, even the threshold of 200 euros, which will be introduced in a year and a half, suits the majority of buyers in foreign online stores. According to customs officials, 95% of shipments arriving in Russia generally cost less than 30 euros. However, reducing the limit to this limit will, of course, hit some segments of the online trading market. We are talking primarily about electronics and other expensive things.

If for today's limit of a thousand euros you can buy any decent smartphone, including top models from all leading manufacturers, then for 200 euros you can only buy an average budget-class or slightly above-average phone.

However, these plans are not the limit. Customs officials and the Ministry of Finance are seriously discussing the possibility of imposing a duty on any foreign parcel from online stores starting in 2020. The scheme is still being worked out. This could be, for example, a duty of 1 euro per 1 kilogram of parcel weight.

If such a duty is introduced, it will indeed turn into a “tax on the poor.” This is exactly what the head calls the duty on parcels from abroad to Russia Russian Society protection of consumer rights Mikhail Anshakov. Anshakov’s idea is clear - wealthy people can go and buy any product in a store or boutique, without really paying attention to prices. Online purchases on Aliexpress are made by those who want to save their money and are willing to put up with certain inconveniences, primarily long waits for delivery.

Photo: pxhere.com

Who benefits from tax on purchases from abroad?

The same Mikhail Anshakov, in an interview with Radio Liberty, shares his opinion about what is happening. According to the head of the Society for the Protection of Consumer Rights, this duty does not contribute anything to the budget. All funds collected will go towards the salaries of those who will collect this tax. And the main beneficiary is Russian online stores, which cannot compete with foreign online retail.

Indeed, if we look at the statistics of online trade cited by Vedomosti, we notice a constant increase in the share of cross-border trade and a corresponding decrease in the share of domestic trade on the Internet. If back in 2013 domestic trade occupied 76 percent of the market versus 24 percent for foreign stores, then already in 2017 foreign stores had a market share of 36 percent versus 64 percent for Russian players.

Mikhail Anshakov calls Russian online retail the main lobbyist for reducing or even completely eliminating the duty-free import limit for foreign online purchases.

They introduced foreign stores, in turn, warning that gains for one industry will hit the other hard. Postal and courier services, who today actively make money by delivering purchases from abroad.

The state will not gain anything. Formally, it is said that lowering the limit will provide an extra 25 billion rubles annually. But Mikhail Anshakov draws attention to the fact that this money will only allow customs officers to report on how they increased collections in favor of the treasury. However, almost all of this amount will ultimately be spent on administering duties, since in order to process such a volume of parcels it will be necessary to increase the staff of the Federal Customs Service, pay people’s salaries and incur other expenses for processing documents for duties.

Mandatory fee only for goods that cost more than €100.

Russian companies have been waiting for such changes for a long time, but the matter has not gone further than talk. Meanwhile, the actual introduction of duties could provoke losses in the state budget due to the need to control the collection of new fees.

Who lobbies for buyer fees?

There was talk about lowering the threshold for duty-free purchases back in the spring of 2016, then they discussed the possibility of lowering the “upper limit” of the amount to €22 and 1 kg of weight. In 2014, discussions began to lower the threshold to €150. The restrictions were not approved at the time.

Meanwhile, several local players have entered the Russian e-commerce market. First of all, it is worth highlighting the Goods platform and the joint project of Sberbank and Yandex.Market called Beru. In such conditions, lobbying for the bill resumed with renewed vigor.

It is logical that players are not happy with the exemption of foreign online stores from customs duties Russian market, paying for each wholesale import of goods. In Russia there is still a struggle over who will become the “Russian Amazon”, which means that lobbying for laws against Aliexpress and foreign Western sites selling goods to Russians will continue.

The government is also convinced that it is losing money due to untaxed parcels from abroad. According to calculations by representatives of the State Duma, in 2017 the budget was missing 130 billion rubles. According to the logic of the deputies, foreign trading platforms could pay approximately this much if payment of VAT and duties for small purchases were provided for.

But here everything is not so simple. According to Ernst & Young, revenues to the Russian budget for 2016 from the introduction of VAT on foreign parcels could amount to 54.3 billion rubles. At the same time, analysts estimated the costs of administering these shipments at 80 billion rubles.

In addition, an increase in taxes and duties inevitably leads to higher prices and, as a consequence, to an increase in illegal (and therefore uncontrollable by tax authorities) turnover of imported goods.

Foreign sites are growing

Hardly for the average person Russian buyer This innovation will bring about major changes. According to the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT), even the slowdown in the growth of the Russian online trade market had little effect on the volume of cross-border transactions.

At the end of 2017, the volume of foreign purchases in the total volume of online trade in Russia amounted to 36%, which is 3% more than in 2016. The sources of growth were Chinese and American dynamically developing platforms Aliexpress, Ebay, Pandao, Joom, Wish, etc.

The average buyer will no longer want to give up the usual cheap products: prices for Chinese goods above the limit, even with the duty, will be below the Russian average. Nowadays, buyers approach their choice carefully: they spend a long time studying online information about the product, reviews, and try to find the product on the shelves in offline stores in order to evaluate it “live.”

Only after going through this path does the client make a purchasing decision: choose what to buy and where to buy. The introduction of tariffs will not change the strategy of price-conscious buyers. Such people will simply begin to plan their expenses more competently: monthly and, if possible, without duties.

The introduction of restrictions will also affect the online trading market as a whole. Now the average bill of a Russian buyer on Chinese websites is about 800 rubles (approximately €11), and in other foreign stores Russians buy an average of 3,300 rubles (approximately €45), which clearly does not reach the threshold proposed by the government.

Most Aliexpress customers do not buy expensive smartphones or bulky equipment, but cheap goods. For serious purchases, people go to niche online platforms, where the average bill, according to Yandex calculations, reaches 7,000 rubles. It will become more and more convenient to interact with these sites in the near future.

How and why online trading is growing

According to statistics presented by AKIT, the volume of the online trading market in Russia in 2017 did not exceed 4% of total sales in the country. Over the same period in the United States, this figure is about 10%. In terms of online trading development, Russia lags behind advanced countries by five to seven years.

However, the growth of e-commerce in Russia to 10% of total trade volume (as in developed countries) is expected by many market players in the next three to four years. More and more serious trading platforms are appearing in the country. The level of service, speed and quality of delivery are developing. Many marketplaces promise delivery within the region within 24 hours, even if the cart contains goods from different suppliers.

The growth of e-commerce remains colossal: at the end of 2017, the number of sales increased by 25% - this maximum rate, which has been achieved since 2014. Even if the average check in monetary terms falls, sales of Russian online stores are growing faster than those of foreign ones. Where do the buyers come from? Most likely, they are moving from offline to online: turnover in traditional retail is falling, and the online market is constantly growing.

The Russian e-commerce market has room to grow – and grow a lot. The GROTEM company analyzed the sources of unloading orders from Russian online stores and came to disappointing conclusions: the level of automation is quite low.

46% of stores download orders manually from Excel, 37% work with 1C products, and only 11% use modern means uploads (CMS, CRM and ERP). Process automation is the next necessary step towards the development of the e-commerce market.

The more processes are automated, the faster all operations occur: receipt and processing of orders, assembly and dispatch of parcels, delivery and payment of goods. The fewer issues you need to solve “manually”, the more best level the service can be provided by the site. Many Russian online stores have yet to implement this.

How the Chinese react

Alibaba Group, a super-large online retailer based in China, is ready for the changes ahead. The company opens warehouses across Russia, distribution centers and technical support offices. It is establishing cooperation with Russian Post, which in 2017 alone processed 365 million international and Russian items containing goods. If the country's main postal operator maintains its growth rate, it will be able to deliver about 450 million parcels by the end of 2018.

In addition, it is Russian Post that will have to process parcels and regulate the collection of duties. So Alibaba Group is also doing normal lobbying for its interests.

Ultimately, lowering the duty-free threshold will not stop purchases from abroad - except that buyers will have to be more thoughtful in choosing the seller and the terms of sale. Russian retailers, for their part, will be forced to catch up with the level of service of foreign trading platforms.

The number of large, serious companies in the Russian online trading environment is constantly growing, and the level of their service is improving. This allows us to predict the growth of the Russian e-commerce market by two to three times in the next three to four years – presumably up to $40-50 billion per year by 2022. At the same time, the share of foreign sellers in the market should remain within 30-40% of the total amount.

Shopping in foreign online stores in last years have become so popular that almost no one can live without them modern man. First of all, purchasing various goods in foreign online stores is a success among Russians thanks to wide range quality products and their relatively low cost. However, in order for the purchase to be as useful and enjoyable as possible, you should first study all the rules for purchasing in a foreign online store, which will help to avoid possible mistakes and troubles for buyers.

New rules for shopping in foreign online stores in 2019

First of all, experts in purchasing goods abroad online recommend choosing the right trading platform. According to them, it is necessary to pay attention to the length of his work, success in trading and customer reviews. Reliable and conscientious online stores publish reviews of their work on home page own trading platform. It will also be useful for consumers of the product to familiarize themselves with the terms of the guarantees provided by the seller.

After selecting the product, the buyer chooses a convenient method of payment and delivery of the purchase. To protect yourself from scammers, it is certainly better to pay for goods by cash on delivery, but not all foreign online stores provide this option.

In 2019, the rules for purchasing in foreign online stores have changed significantly. The fact is that the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation proposed to introduce a tax on purchases Russian citizens in foreign stores. If previously buyers did not pay any taxes or duties, now they will have to contribute a certain amount to the state treasury. According to Deputy Head of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation Ilya Trunin, parcels sent between countries are not postal items, but a method of delivering retail goods.

The new rules for purchasing in foreign online stores mainly affected such large popular trading platforms as eBay, AliExpress, Amazon and others. It is to these retail chains and wholesale trade The tax scheme for foreign online sellers will apply. True, experts are confident that foreign sellers will compensate for the costs by shifting a significant part of them to Russian buyers.

According to this tax scheme, which should come into effect in 2019, the process of buying and selling goods goes through the following stages:

• A Russian buyer registered on a certain foreign trading platform makes an advance payment for the selected product.
• The seller of this product, located abroad, creates an order and sends the parcel to Russia by mail to his country.
• At this stage, the parcel is assigned a barcoded postal identifier, it is transferred to the trading platform where the purchase and sale of the goods was carried out, and to Russian Post.
• Then the parcel is sent to Russia, processed by the Federal Customs Service (FCS), and transferred to Russian Post.
• IN post office where the parcel was delivered, the recipient is identified using passport data, after which the purchase is transferred to him.

The post office informs the Federal Customs Service and the foreign postal administration about the receipt of the parcel by the addressee, which in turn notifies the electronic trading platform about the transfer of the parcel. After this foreign trade company must transfer tax in the amount of 18% of the purchase price made by a Russian buyer.

Limit on duty-free amount when purchasing goods in foreign online stores

Russian authorities are considering introducing a new law on purchases from foreign online stores - the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). According to this document, the restrictions on duty-free purchases in foreign online stores, which currently amount to 1,000 euros, will be gradually reduced.

The new reform regarding the purchase of goods in foreign online stores will take place in two stages. At the first stage, the duty-free trade limit will be reduced to 500 euros per month. This is exactly the amount of duty-free purchases in foreign online stores that was established by the Russian authorities. If you exceed the established limit for purchases in foreign online stores, you must pay a duty of 30% of the cost of the goods.

At the second stage of the reform, the threshold for duty-free trade is lowered to 200 euros - not per month, but for each purchase. This amount of purchases in foreign online stores concerns a one-time purchase of goods.

If you exceed the established norm, you will have to pay a duty of 15% of the amount exceeding the permissible threshold. The Russian authorities assume that the restrictions on purchases in foreign online stores considered in 2019 will come into effect only in mid-2019.

Taxes on purchases in foreign online stores under the new law

It is known that many products - clothes, shoes, toys, gadgets and Appliances in foreign online stores they are much cheaper than in Russia. According to officials, this new law will not affect ordinary citizens, since their purchases, as a rule, do not exceed 150 euros. The reform was created, first of all, with the aim of collecting taxes on purchases in foreign online stores that are carried out by unscrupulous Russian entrepreneurs. The law is seen as one of the methods to combat people who purchase goods on foreign trading platforms not for personal use, but for subsequent resale.

The government is currently discussing two taxes on foreign online trade at the same time. The first is payment customs duty, which is levied on the lower purchase price abroad, and the second is VAT, that is, sales tax. These two taxes are planned to be introduced during 2018-2019.

The introduction of strict restrictions on purchases on foreign trading platforms was supported by Russian online stores. Russian trading platforms have taken the initiative to introduce duties and taxes for foreign online stores due to the fact that they work with them in unequal conditions. The fact is that some stores cover the cost of delivering the goods to the recipient. It depends on the country where the goods are sent, the distance between the seller and the recipient and the weight. The foreign online store itself determines who exactly will pay for the parcel, relieving itself of part of the costs.

In addition, the lower price of goods in foreign online stores caused the loss of a significant number of customers by Russian virtual trading platforms. As experts note, if foreign stores engaged in online trading pay VAT, then their taxation will double: the first in their own country, the second in Russia. The innovations will not equalize VAT for Russian and foreign sellers, but prices may be equalized, as a result of which Russian citizens will make fewer purchases abroad.

Customs duty on purchases of bags in foreign online stores

For those who are planning to purchase bags in foreign online stores, the following information will be useful. When purchasing accessories from small quantity For personal use you will not have to pay additional customs duties.

Customs duties on purchases in foreign online stores are not charged for personal use goods sent during a calendar month to the name of one individual. However, this rule applies to bags whose cost does not exceed 1,000 euros and whose weight does not exceed 31 kg.