Russian customs has changed the rules for processing parcels from foreign online stores. What does it mean

Duty-free import

Without paying customs duties, individuals have the right to transport goods across the border of the Russian Federation in the amount of:

Up to 1500 euros for ground transport (train, car);
(!! - up to 500 euros from January 1, 2019)

Up to 10,000 euros for air transport (airplane).

In both cases, the total weight of imported items should not exceed 50 kg.

If the cost or weight is exceeded

If the price or weight of purchases made abroad is higher than the specified standards, but falls within the limits of 650,000 rubles. by price and 200 kg by weight, you will have to pay for exceeding the limit:

30% of the cost, but not less than 4 euros for each extra kilogram of weight.

More about duty-free import

It is important to understand that such a benefit as duty-free import applies to goods intended for personal use, satisfaction of personal, family, household and other “needs not related to business activities.” To determine their purpose, the customs official takes into account factors such as the nature of the goods, their quantity, and the frequency of their movement across the border.

Things of the same type, for example, several pairs of jeans or shoes purchased for personal use, during customs control can be recognized as a commercial consignment of goods, which will also cause them to be subject to increased rates, if not more unpleasant consequences for the citizens transporting them.

If the limits of RUB 650,000 are exceeded. or 200 kg, then fees will be collected by customs officers at foreign trade rates.

It is not possible to indicate the exact rate for this case within the framework of this review, since customs duties are also different for different types of products, and they exist for all categories of goods. In addition, there are several types of bets: ad valorem, specific and combined. This is not a simple question for the foreign trade participants themselves. The rates of import customs duties are calculated on the basis of the unified customs tariff ETT in accordance with the rules of the Eurasian Economic Union. Moneyinformer recommended that ordinary citizens crossing the border simply avoid situations where these rules might be required. It will not be possible to study all the nuances quickly, but you can start familiarizing yourself, for example, with this document.

How much can you take out?

It is clear that in order to buy and import something, you must first export something. Of course it's money. There is no need to declare funds on bank cards, cash up to $3,000 (currency or rubles, equivalent amount) either. From $3,000 to $10,000 must be declared, and to export large amounts in cash you will need permission from the Central Bank.

Also, personal valuables are allowed to be exported without declaration - jewelry, expensive watches... Some citizens use this rule to avoid paying duty on goods purchased abroad, passing them off as used. (See important news).

Online shopping

Now, in 2018, Russian citizens can purchase duty-free goods in foreign online stores worth up to 1,000 euros per month, while the total weight of purchases should not exceed 31 kg.

If the price or weight of goods purchased in any month of the year exceeds these standards, then the purchase will be subject to a duty of 30% of the cost of the goods, but not less than 4 euros per 1 kg.

Changes expected:

From the government’s announced plans, it was assumed that from 2019 the threshold for duty-free purchases will change downwards.

From January 1, 2019, it was supposed to be equal to 500 euros. Exceeding this limit would entail levying a duty of the same amount: 30% of the cost of the goods, but not less than 4 euros per 1 kg.
- From January 1, 2020, this threshold was to be reduced to 200 euros. The customs duty rate if the limit was exceeded was to be 15% of the purchase price, but not less than 2 euros per 1 kg.

However, quite recently the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Service announced plans to speed up this transition:

Following this, the Federal Customs Service came up with an even more radical assumption:
- completely abolish the duty-free threshold for purchases in foreign online stores (albeit, while reducing the amount of duties charged).

What decisions will be made in the end is still absolutely unclear; Moneyinformer will follow the news.

Changes are postponed:

From July 1, 2018 they are not entered. For now, the upper limit remains the same - 1000 euros per month.

Why the development of the situation is difficult to predict:

- Russian Post, according to its head Nikolai Podguzov, is not yet ready to reduce the duty-free threshold even to €200, while at the same time work is underway to introduce technology for automatically collecting duties when placing orders in online stores.

The National Association of Distance Selling (NADT) has its own complaints about the draft law; they say that it is necessary to remove the time limit (“within a month”) and consider each purchase separately, since otherwise the administration procedure becomes much more complicated.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a reminder that the cost of administering the collection of duties is €10, and it may turn out that instead of additional income, the procedure for the state will work at a disadvantage.

According to the authoritative opinion of leading foreign industry players eBay and Amazon, the new rules will not only not increase budget revenues, but will also slow down the development of the domestic Russian online trading market, leading to a sharp decline in consumer purchasing activity. On the contrary, representatives of Russian online retailers, in particular Wildberries, are clearly in favor of taxing foreign parcels, as this should lead to an increase in sales of domestic online retailers.

Important news

Fees will increase

From 01/01/2019, the threshold for duty-free import of personal goods by land transport is reduced from €1,500 to €500. The permitted weight of such goods is also reduced - from 50 to 25 kg. Changes are being introduced earlier than originally expected.

These rules will be simultaneously introduced in other EAEU countries: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Everything is the same with Internet parcels

According to official information from the Ministry of Finance, from July 1, 2018, the threshold for duty-free import of parcels from foreign online stores into Russia will not be reduced and will remain at the same level. Exact data on the timing of lowering the threshold is awaited.

Customs knows everything about you

Unpleasant news appeared for those Russian travelers who planned to bring expensive items from abroad (total value above 10,000 euros), passing them off as their own used ones and without paying the 30% customs tax on them. These items are most often watches and jewelry.

The media report that the Federal Customs Service now has the opportunity to quickly receive information about expensive purchases by Russians abroad. Customs officers greet some of the arriving tourists with a list of their overseas purchases in hand. The source of such information is probably the Tax Free systems and their foreign colleagues collaborating with Russian law enforcement officers. Dozens of our citizens have already been caught transporting undeclared goods, among whom were government employees and respectable businessmen, including those who flew into the country on private aviation aircraft - business jets. As you know, smuggling (namely, the import of undeclared items) can result in penalties including criminal penalties.

The head of the Federal Customs Service, Vladimir Bulavin, did not refute this information and confirmed that the customs service is cooperating with foreign colleagues in this area.

Additional Information

Import to Russia of alcohol, tobacco, medicines, animals, alcohol and tobacco, cars...

How to submit a declaration and make payment

How to declare. Green and red corridors

All goods transported across the customs border of Russia are subject to customs control.

In order to inform the customs authorities about goods, the import of which is subject to the payment of customs duties or compliance with restrictions established by law (transportation of weapons, medicines, animals, antiques...), you must fill out a special declaration form, which can be obtained from a customs officer.

If such items and in such quantities are transported for which customs duties are not provided, then no forms are required to be filled out.

At most international airports, seaports and border crossing points by road, a customs control system of “two corridors” - red and green - has been introduced. It greatly simplifies and makes the inspection process faster:

If a citizen is carrying things that he wants to report to customs officers, he is sent to the red corridor.

If he is sure that he does not need to fill out a declaration, he goes through the green corridor.

It is important to keep in mind that passing through the green corridor is also a declaration that you do not have with you items that the law requires you to declare. There is even a special name for this procedure: “conclusive declaration”. Customs officers also “inspect” citizens passing along the green corridor, only with less attention, often only with the help of video surveillance cameras. But this does not mean that they may not need to conduct a full search.

How to pay, payment terms

Customs duties are paid by individuals when declaring goods in writing on the basis of a customs receipt order, one copy of which is handed over to the person who paid the customs duties.

The payment period for importation should not exceed 15 days from the date of presentation of the goods to the customs authority at the place of their arrival in the customs territory of the Russian Federation.

Rules for the carriage of certain categories of goods

For the purpose of this review, Moneyinformer provides general information. Detailed, most accurate and up-to-date information on this issue can be obtained on the official website of the Federal Customs Service.
Goods for personal use transported across the customs border:
- with payment of customs duties and taxes
- with exemption from payment

Alcohol

An individual has the right to import 3 liters of alcoholic beverages into Russia duty-free.

Another 2 liters can be imported by entering the declaration and paying a fee for them:

10 euros per liter of beer and wine

22 euros per liter of strong alcohol (vodka, whiskey, cognac...)

It is prohibited to bring more than 5 liters. The same rules apply to alcoholic beverages purchased at a Duty Free store.

Tobacco

An individual has the right to import up to 200 cigarettes or up to 50 cigars or up to 250 grams of tobacco into Russia duty-free.

Products

Food products are allowed to be imported in factory-labeled packaging and in quantities of no more than 5 kg per person, with the exception of certain types of products from certain countries that are subject to temporary restrictions of Rosselkhoznadzor. Seeds of food crops, as well as flowers, cannot be transported.

Cars

This category of items moved across the border by individuals stands apart. To import a car into the Russian Federation, you need to pay VAT, excise tax and customs duty. For a thorough consideration of this issue, there are numerous reference tables and calculators. Moneyinformer will only indicate what characteristics of the car will affect the final cost of its import and customs clearance: this is its cost, volume, power and type of engine, weight, year of manufacture. The more expensive the car, more powerful, more modern, the more you will have to pay, and in a significant progression.

Motorized watercraft

For other types of vehicles, as well as yachts, boats and other watercraft, a single tariff rate of 30% of the cost of the goods (equipment) being transported is applied.

Prohibited for import

Goods the import of which into Russia is prohibited by current rules:
- Printing, photo and video products with pornographic content; similar products that may be related to state secrets; and which may be classified as promoting racism, terrorism, national or religious hatred;
- Endangered species of animals and plants;
- Narcotic substances;
- Vegetable and fruit crops that do not have phytosanitary permits;
- Weapons, their components and ammunition in the absence of special permission (including pneumatic, cold and gas weapons of certain types);
- Human biomaterials.

Responsibility for violating the rules

Customs offenses include non-declaration or false declaration of goods, failure to re-import goods, smuggling and others. Some of them may become the subject of administrative offenses, while others may be criminal, and, accordingly, entail measures of administrative or criminal liability. Depending on the seriousness of the violation, the perpetrator may be given a warning, a fine imposed with or without confiscation of the imported goods, or may even be threatened with imprisonment.

Export rules

The customs rules for the export of goods and money across the Russian border are almost completely identical to the rules and procedures for import.

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 the exemption of foreign online stores from customs duties does not suit the Russian market players who pay 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

It is unlikely that this innovation will entail serious changes for the average Russian buyer. 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 duties, will be lower than 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.

Nevertheless, many market players expect an increase in the volume of e-commerce in Russia to 10% of the total trade volume (as in developed countries) 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 enormous: at the end of 2017, the number of sales increased by 25% - this is the maximum figure that 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 upload orders manually from Excel, 37% work with 1C products, and only 11% use modern upload tools (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 that need to be resolved “manually,” the better level of service the site can provide. 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, distribution centers and technical support offices throughout Russia. 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 foreign purchases, 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.

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

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

How do they currently charge duties on Internet parcels?

Currently in Russia, duties are not levied on goods purchased online from abroad, the total cost of which is less than €1 thousand 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 when importing parcels into the territory of participating countries. According to this decision, the maximum threshold for duty-free import of postal items should be €500 from January 1, 2019.

A 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 reduction would not be sharp for consumers and would not be a burden on the information systems and employees of Russian Post, the Federal Customs Service (FCS) 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 corresponding draft resolution is currently under consideration by the government. Various options are being considered for 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.

Back in April, the Ministry of Finance presented the first version of a draft resolution, in which it was proposed to impose duties on parcels from foreign online stores more expensive than €500 per month as early as July 1 of this year, and from January next - on 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 discussed 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 threshold for duty-free import of foreign online purchases for several years. In particular, the draft budget for 2018–2020 assumed its reduction to €20. Last October, Russian Post proposed introducing duties on goods over €200 by 2019 and over €20 by 2021. In mid-June, the Federal Customs Service came up with a proposal to introduce duties in a year and a half for all goods purchased by Russians in foreign online stores. At the same time, the Federal Customs Service proposed reducing the duty to 20% and extending the requirements of technical regulation to goods of cross-border trade. The service expects that such an innovation will bring up to 25 billion rubles to the budget. in year. As Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service Timur Maksimov explained at the “Customs Regulation in Russia” conference organized by the Vedomosti newspaper, the ultimate goal of these measures is to level out working conditions in the market. The proposed model may have an “ambiguous effect” for consumers, but “a slight increase in price should be compensated by the guarantee and quality of imported products,” Maksimov said.

President of the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT) Artem Sokolov says that its members “have always supported decisions that will create equal competitive conditions in the market,” which includes the proposal to reduce the duty-free import threshold. “The decision will primarily benefit Russian producers, for whom 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 noted. At the same time, the head of AKIT believes that the latest scheme proposed by the Ministry of Finance corresponds to the state’s capabilities to administer duties.

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

According to one of the participants in the e-commerce market, from the scheme proposed in the new draft resolution, it is not clear how, from July 1, 2019, the duty will be collected when the limit is exceeded. “Will online platforms be able to collect it independently during ordering, what will be the amount of these duties,” noted RBC’s interlocutor. According to him, it will be difficult to administer parcels with a monthly limit of €200, since there are many such parcels. “It is this part that looks the most vulnerable. Identification of all buyers and maintenance of registers will be required,” he indicated.

The Eurasian Economic Commission has approved new limits for duty-free import of goods for personal use. These norms also work for Russia. These are the ones you need to focus on if you are going to order goods from foreign online stores or bring them back 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 doesn’t work yet - since January 1, 2018, duty-free limits have not changed.

This is very bad for the media, which need to fulfill the traffic plan. It's 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

Currently, there is no duty to pay 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 it would be greatly reduced and such calculations were even included in the budget, but so far the rules will not change.

The limits for duty-free orders 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 counted 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. This is the case for now, but things can still change.

What about duties if the limit is exceeded?

Now for orders from foreign stores, the limit is calculated not for each parcel, but for the 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 - using the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).

If the limit is higher 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 excess weight.

If, when ordering in some online store or when arranging delivery, you are asked to pay extra, supposedly due to a reduction in the duty-free limit, do not take their word for it - ask for a document. And then check if it works.

Import of goods by any means of transport, except by plane

If you are returning from a trip by car or by train, you can also import goods duty-free within the limits on value and weight. Now and throughout 2018, there is no need to pay duty 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.

Import by plane

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

For delivery of goods by car or 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 transported 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 falls within the monthly price and weight limit. When the weight and time limits are lifted, you will need to fit into the cost limit for one parcel.

But there are goods that are not considered personal goods, 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 hairdresser’s chair as a personal item - you’ll have to pay a duty, and maybe also a tax.

Who sets these standards? What kind of EEC is this and what do we have to do with it?

These standards 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 what certificates to issue, what general rules must be followed, how to label goods and what duties should be charged.

The Commission sets an upper limit for duty-free import of goods, but the leadership of a particular country can 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 subject to duties. In Armenia the limit is also less than standard. And in Russia, such a limit, as established by the commission, is the maximum possible.

Shopping in foreign online stores has become so popular in recent years that almost no modern person can do without them. First of all, purchasing various goods in foreign online stores is a success among Russians due to a wide range of high-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 the main page of their 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 by 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 these retail and wholesale trade networks that will be subject to the taxation scheme for foreign online sellers. 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.
• At the 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, the foreign trading company must remit tax in the amount of 18% of the purchase price made by the 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, 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 goods - clothes, shoes, toys, gadgets and household appliances in foreign online stores are much cheaper than in Russia. According to officials, this new law will not affect ordinary citizens, since their purchases usually do not exceed 150 euros. The reform was created, first of all, with the aim of collecting taxes on purchases in foreign online stores, which are carried out by unscrupulous Russian entrepreneurs. The law is seen as one of the methods of combating 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 the payment of customs duty, which is levied on the lower value of the purchase 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 in small quantities 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.