Foreign online orders of individuals will be subject to a duty, regardless of their value. Prices may increase for almost all products sold in Russian marketplaces.
Prepare wallets for Russians
Any purchase of Russian individuals in foreign online stores, including the popular Chinese AliExpress, is highly likely to be subject to customs duty in the very near future, regardless of how much it costs, Vedomosti writes. The fee is 15% of the product price.
The authorities seem to have decided to completely get rid of the threshold of duty-free import, Vedomosti writes. The decision was made by the members of the EAEU( Eurasian Economic Union), which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
The amendments have not yet entered into force – they imply making changes to the EAEU Customs Code after receiving approval from the national parliaments of the Union's member countries. However, sources familiar with the discussion, as well as representatives of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), informed the publication about their absentee readiness for such a step.
In other words, Russia is about to completely abolish the duty-free import threshold, which since March 2022 was 1000 euros (99.7 thousand rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank on March 29, 2024). For months, the authorities planned to reduce it to 200 euros (19.9 thousand rubles), as it was before February 2022, that is, before almost all major foreign brands left Russia. Online retail asked them to keep the threshold at 1,000 euros, while traditional offline retail lobbied for a reduction to 200 euros. As reported by CNews, the authorities did not even consider maintaining the current threshold values.
While everyone was preparing the olivier
According to the publication, a preliminary agreement on the elimination of duty-free import as such was reached relatively long ago. However, for unknown reasons, it was not advertised.
The EAEU members agreed on such changes, which are not very beneficial for ordinary citizens, especially in a country with official inflation of more than 7%, as early as December 25, 2023. According to Vedomosti, the amendments involve the introduction of "the concept of e-commerce goods and provide for the requirement to pay mandatory fees to individuals when selling them."
"In respect of e-commerce goods purchased by individuals, customs duties are payable in respect of e – commerce goods and, if this is provided for by the legislation of the EEA member state, taxes," the publication quotes an excerpt from the protocol of the decision of the EAEU members.
The specific terms of entry into force of the amendments are unknown, as they still need the approval of the national parliaments, including the Russian one, the source said. According to him, the innovation is aimed at "bringing goods purchased using electronic resources into a separate category with the peculiarities of their customs administration."
First open hints
The Russian authorities began to talk about the imminent abandonment of the duty-free import threshold only recently. For example, on March 26, 2024, during a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Taxes and Budget, Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Sazanov hinted at this. He noted that the threshold can still be maintained, but only when goods are transferred from one individual to another.
Five days earlier, on March 21, 2024, acting head of the Federal Customs Service Ruslan Davydov openly stated that Russia should be freed from all cost thresholds that allow citizens to import goods into the country and legally avoid paying customs duties. According to Vedomosti, this statement, which Davydov called his personal opinion, was made at an expanded meeting of the customs board.
The authorities long-held dream is about to come true
The Russian authorities have long wanted to abolish or at least reduce the duty-free import threshold, but so far they have been hindered by global events in 2020 and 2022. In both cases, the financial condition of the country's citizens suffered greatly, and the abolition of the threshold could have had various consequences.
However, both the size of the threshold and the very fact of its existence do not give the state any rest. For example, in February 2018, former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered to reduce this threshold from the then 1,000 euros to 200 euros by January 1, 2020.
This order was implemented, but a five-fold reduction in the threshold did not seem enough to the Russian authorities. At the end of 2019, a discussion started on the idea of lowering the threshold to a tiny 20 euros or 1994 rubles at the exchange rate as of March 29, 2024.
Prepare wallets for Russians
Any purchase of Russian individuals in foreign online stores, including the popular Chinese AliExpress, is highly likely to be subject to customs duty in the very near future, regardless of how much it costs, Vedomosti writes. The fee is 15% of the product price.
The authorities seem to have decided to completely get rid of the threshold of duty-free import, Vedomosti writes. The decision was made by the members of the EAEU( Eurasian Economic Union), which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.
The amendments have not yet entered into force – they imply making changes to the EAEU Customs Code after receiving approval from the national parliaments of the Union's member countries. However, sources familiar with the discussion, as well as representatives of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), informed the publication about their absentee readiness for such a step.
In other words, Russia is about to completely abolish the duty-free import threshold, which since March 2022 was 1000 euros (99.7 thousand rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank on March 29, 2024). For months, the authorities planned to reduce it to 200 euros (19.9 thousand rubles), as it was before February 2022, that is, before almost all major foreign brands left Russia. Online retail asked them to keep the threshold at 1,000 euros, while traditional offline retail lobbied for a reduction to 200 euros. As reported by CNews, the authorities did not even consider maintaining the current threshold values.
While everyone was preparing the olivier
According to the publication, a preliminary agreement on the elimination of duty-free import as such was reached relatively long ago. However, for unknown reasons, it was not advertised.
The EAEU members agreed on such changes, which are not very beneficial for ordinary citizens, especially in a country with official inflation of more than 7%, as early as December 25, 2023. According to Vedomosti, the amendments involve the introduction of "the concept of e-commerce goods and provide for the requirement to pay mandatory fees to individuals when selling them."
"In respect of e-commerce goods purchased by individuals, customs duties are payable in respect of e – commerce goods and, if this is provided for by the legislation of the EEA member state, taxes," the publication quotes an excerpt from the protocol of the decision of the EAEU members.
The specific terms of entry into force of the amendments are unknown, as they still need the approval of the national parliaments, including the Russian one, the source said. According to him, the innovation is aimed at "bringing goods purchased using electronic resources into a separate category with the peculiarities of their customs administration."
First open hints
The Russian authorities began to talk about the imminent abandonment of the duty-free import threshold only recently. For example, on March 26, 2024, during a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Taxes and Budget, Deputy Finance Minister Alexey Sazanov hinted at this. He noted that the threshold can still be maintained, but only when goods are transferred from one individual to another.
Five days earlier, on March 21, 2024, acting head of the Federal Customs Service Ruslan Davydov openly stated that Russia should be freed from all cost thresholds that allow citizens to import goods into the country and legally avoid paying customs duties. According to Vedomosti, this statement, which Davydov called his personal opinion, was made at an expanded meeting of the customs board.
The authorities long-held dream is about to come true
The Russian authorities have long wanted to abolish or at least reduce the duty-free import threshold, but so far they have been hindered by global events in 2020 and 2022. In both cases, the financial condition of the country's citizens suffered greatly, and the abolition of the threshold could have had various consequences.
However, both the size of the threshold and the very fact of its existence do not give the state any rest. For example, in February 2018, former Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered to reduce this threshold from the then 1,000 euros to 200 euros by January 1, 2020.
This order was implemented, but a five-fold reduction in the threshold did not seem enough to the Russian authorities. At the end of 2019, a discussion started on the idea of lowering the threshold to a tiny 20 euros or 1994 rubles at the exchange rate as of March 29, 2024.
