New rules for processing parcels from foreign online stores: what has changed?

Photo source: NTV



On December 6, at Geektimes , news was published that the Federal Customs Service introduced new requirements for processing the delivery of online goods that Russians bought abroad in online stores. According to these rules, buyers must provide their TIN and references to goods purchased when buying something abroad.



“The order of the FCS of Russia of November 24, 2017 No. 1861 provides for the customs representative to submit to the customs authority the details of the document certifying the identity of the recipient and his TIN. The submission of the TIN is necessary for the unambiguous identification of an individual for the purpose of accounting for the cost and weight of all goods received by the person in the calendar month, ”representatives of the department said a week ago. Recently, the network has information about the blockages of unparsed packages sent from abroad and stuck at the Russian customs due to the absence of the recipient's TIN.



But as it turned out, this is a rumor. Neither market participants nor experts observe thousands of packages that have accumulated on the Russian side. According to the President of the Association of Internet Commerce Companies, Alexey Fedorov, there is no problem. The fact is that large logistics operators have an automatic selection of the customer's TIN. “Customs authorities work perfectly, the parcels do not unfold. Any client can now add their TIN on the site of the logistics company in two clicks. It’s very easy to find your TIN, ”says Fedorov.



The first to overload the customs said the company Shiptor, which, however, then reported that at the moment there are no problems.

So what happened and how to live with it?

Previously, in order to make a personal purchase in a foreign online store, only passport details, a shopping list and a delivery address were needed. All this information was needed by customs. Now the INN is also required. In addition, you may need links to purchased products or screenshots from online stores. All this is better to send on request, otherwise the customs may not miss the parcel.



TIN is required in order to determine the duties. According to the law, it is possible to deliver purchases weighing 31 kg for a total amount of 1000 euros without duties. This is a month. Purchases must be made for yourself, not for resale. If more was ordered a month, you will have to pay a fee , which, of course, will raise the total amount of the purchase.



As far as one can understand, earlier many businessmen used various kinds of tricks to order more and not pay a fee. For example, they divided parcels into smaller ones, arranging several orders in such a way that each was cheaper than 1000 euros. Determining how much a particular person ordered from abroad per month was not easy.



Now, by INN, it will be possible to easily see the number of orders from abroad for a specific user. If limits are exceeded, this person will be instructed to pay a fee. In addition, the TIN will be able to track the system of orders for goods from abroad for different users. This opportunity is already interested in tax.



Now the customs and tax bases are interconnected. If desired (and it occurs often), departments can request each other information about certain organizations and individuals. Since the TIN will facilitate the maintenance of detailed records, the tax will hardly neglect this possibility.



For example, the new system will help detect attempts to avoid paying a fee by ordering a large number of small parcels from China. If it turns out that such a user is not yet registered as an entrepreneur, all this may result in a fine.



In addition to the TIN, the customs officers will also check references to specific products or look at the screenshots they have taken. This is necessary to verify the correctness of the price indicated in the document. Parcels are checked using X-ray equipment. And if something seems suspicious to the employees of the FCS, they will check the package.



Interestingly, the customs officers promise that there will be no delay in the parcel due to the new rules. All workflows will go in the usual way. The only thing - now the parcels may begin to lag a little behind the schedule due to the New Year rush and a huge number of items.