Since the customs service of the Russian Federation provides a significant part of fiscal revenues to the federal budget, the state is trying to maximally control compliance with the established norms and rules for cargo clearance by all participants of foreign economic activity, including also calculating and paying each customs duty rate. All this necessitates the availability of serious experience and specialized knowledge in the field of border regulation for each person who is going to cross the border with certain goods.
The main regulatory document in accordance with which the rates of customs payments are regulated is the Customs Code of the Customs Union, the second section of which is entirely devoted to this topic.
Main types
First of all, it is worth noting that there are two main groups of payments - import and export. Each of them includes different requirements and, accordingly, rates of customs duties.
Import
In accordance with the current TC CU, such customs payments include:
- Import duty. It is a mandatory payment that must be collected by customs authorities when moving any goods across the border.
- VAT. Must be charged when trying to import goods into the Customs Union. It is an indirect tax, the payment of which is regulated not only by the CU, but also by the tax laws of individual countries.
- Excise taxes. Charged for any import of marketable products into the territory of the Customs Union. It is an indirect tax and is regulated in the same way as VAT.
- Customs duties. A compulsory payment, which is charged by the relevant authorities for the performance of actions related to the release of goods from the territory, as well as their accompaniment or any other actions specified by the Customs Union or applicable laws of other countries of the Customs Union. The general list of actions that may be the basis for this customs duty rate is currently open, that is, it can be supplemented based on the current TC CU. It can also be supplemented, starting from any separate regulatory legal acts of individual countries participating in the CU.
Export
Among this group, it is worth noting the following items for which customs duty rates are set:
- Export duty. This term is not only not indicated in the regulatory legal acts of Russia, but also is not precisely explained by the rules of the CU. You can determine it by analogy with the import payment.
- Customs duties. The size of this payment cannot be more than the approximate cost of expenses incurred by the relevant authorities in the commission of any actions in relation to which the fee is established. If this rule is not respected, the payer has the right to write an application for the return of the amount that was overpaid, as well as any other cash. The only thing worth noting: the application must be submitted a maximum of three years after the payment has been made.
Preferences
Different tariff preferences can be used in relation to individual goods or countries that are imported from other countries to the territory of the Customs Union. If goods are exported from Russia, then in their case their application is not provided.
In accordance with applicable legal acts, this list includes the following:
- List of developing countries that are users of the accepted vehicle preferences.
- The list of least developed countries that are users of the accepted vehicle preferences.
- The list of goods originating and imported from countries, and in relation to which the provision of tariff preferences is provided.
The origin of the goods is determined in accordance with the Rules approved in the Agreement between the governments of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia in 2008.
What do you need to know?
If you do not consider the export of goods from Russia, the basic rate of import customs duty is the value fixed in the current ETT, and it is used for any goods of 130 countries with which Russia is most favored in political and commercial terms. The preference rate in the amount of 75% of the base ETT at the same time applies to products that are produced in 103 different countries. A complete absence of duties is provided for a certain list of preferential goods that are transported to the territory of the Russian Federation from 49 countries included in the list of least developed.
The maximum possible rate is 200% of the base customs tariff, and it is used in relation to the goods of those countries with which Russia is not in the MFN regime, or if the product has an unknown origin.
The current legislation also states that countries that together with Russia form a free trade zone should not be paid an import customs duty if they intend to transport their own goods to the territory of the Russian Federation, and in certain situations certain tariff quotas are set for certain types of marketable products .
The tariff quota provides for a measure to regulate the import into Russia of various types of agricultural products originating from third countries. If it is installed on certain commodity products, then when it is imported, an underestimated import customs duty is paid, but only a limited quantity of the goods that can be transported at such a price is indicated.
At the same time, countries that are in the free trade zone do not have significant influence or the possibility of coordinating actions taken in relation to established duties and other measures for regulating foreign economic activity with third countries.
Quotas
The functions of the customs authorities include determining when trying to import such products for which tariff quotas are set. By themselves, they are used as a measure to regulate the import into the Russian Federation of various types of agricultural products produced in the territory of third countries, and they are introduced only for a certain period of time, extending to the list of goods approved by the Commission of the Customs Union or the Government of Russia.
Quotas can be determined in relation to certain positions of goods both in value and in kind. Subsequently, they are distributed among all participants of foreign trade activities of the CU and the Russian Federation, and after that, if necessary, they can also be distributed between third countries. The distribution of the indicated volumes of quotas between all participants of the VEZh RF is carried out in proportion to the quota used or based on the competitive system.
The current legislation regulating the basic functions of customs authorities stipulates that export tariff quotas are determined in full accordance with import ones. They are set for a clearly specified period of time in relation to a specific list of products and in specific volumes, providing a reduced rate. With the introduction of such benefits by the Government of the Russian Federation, the rates of export customs duties are reduced, and they themselves are mainly taken in relation to various natural resources, such as hydrocarbons, timber and their derivatives.
It is worth noting that the various benefits and preferences related to the payment of duties do not apply to compensatory, special or anti-dumping, as special types do not apply to them.
Privileges
Unlike preferences, they do not provide for a personified nature and are used regardless of which particular country produced the marketable product. Tariff concessions can apply to imported goods or reduce the rates of export customs duties, and the issue of their provision unconditionally refers to the conduct of the CU regardless of which particular cargo groups they apply to.
Rates and calculation procedure
In order to accurately determine the amount of payments, you need to have relevant and reliable information about the following:
- What are the basic rates of customs duties, duties, VAT and excise taxes on goods moving across the border, in accordance with the code specified in its commodity nomenclature of foreign trade activities.
- How special rates work: antidumping, seasonal, countervailing, preferential, preferential, protective, quotas regarding certain types of goods transported across the border.
- What are the methods and rules that determine the import and export customs value of various goods.
- What are the calculation formulas used to determine the rates of customs duties, as well as the total amount of paid payments.
- Features of the current regulatory framework in accordance with which the implementation of the above items is carried out.
Fees
Import duties levied by Moscow Customs and other similar bodies are approved in accordance with the decisions of the EEC Council, but export duties may be established only by the Government. The former can be calculated based on ETT - a specialized set of rates by which import duties are determined in relation to products imported to the territory of the Customs Union from any third countries. This code is systematized in full accordance with the HS of the UES, after which it is already used by Moscow Customs and other authorities.
The determination of export duties is carried out in accordance with rates approved by Decree of the Government of Russia No. 754 of 02.30.13. The total amount of the duty depends on the rates and the total value of the goods.
Bid Types
In accordance with the current legislation, three main types are distinguished, which may include import customs duties or export rates - specific, ad valorem and combined. Based on this, a specific mechanism for calculating the final duty is already being selected.
Specific
It can be set in euros or dollars in relation to a certain volume, weight, area or total quantity of goods. In other words, in this case, the value of customs duties is determined in accordance with the physical characteristics of the product, and the list of these characteristics is always open.
The formula by which the duty is calculated looks like this: STP = SPhKVhFH, where:
- STP - the total amount of customs duty.
- SP - rate for each unit of calculation, expressed in foreign currency.
- KV - the rate of the selected foreign currency, which was set by the Central Bank of Russia at the time of registration of the declaration.
Ad valorem
The customs duty in Russia provides for the use of the ad valorem rate as a percentage of the indicated cost of production, and it may vary for import and export.
The export value at the moment is determined by the current resolution of the Government of Russia No. 191, in accordance with which the basic rules for determining the total customs value of various products exported outside the Russian Federation are determined.
Import value is established in accordance with six different methods specified in the above Agreement of 2008, which determines the customs value of products transported across the territory of the Customs Union, as well as in Chapter 8 of the Customs Union.
Customs duties on goods at an ad valorem rate are calculated using the following formula:
STP = SPhTS, where:
- STP - the total amount of the fee.
- SP - established rate of duty.
- TS - the final customs value of the product.
Combined
As the name implies, payment of customs duties at a combined rate involves a combination of the two above mechanisms. That is, a certain fixed amount is added to the ad valorem rate, after which the minimum limit is set.
Special Views
Such duties may be levied by various authorities of countries included in the Customs Union, regardless of the standard specified duty. This includes the following types:
- Special They are more barrage and are designed to protect the product market from excessive imports. The basic principle of such duties is to determine an increased rate on a certain group of products in comparison with the standard.
- Antidumping. Used to bring the cost of imported products to their established level in the exporting country. Such duties are used only if this difference negatively affects the domestic production of similar products.
- Compensatory. In addition to the standard ones, they are levied in order to reduce the competitiveness of various imported products that will be sold on the national market.
- Seasonal The current legislation considers such duties in Article 6 of the Law “On Customs Tariff”, which states that they are introduced for a period of not more than six months and established in order to ensure the operational regulation of the export of products. The general list of goods, as well as specific rates of seasonal duties on them, calculation formulas and payment procedure are approved only by the Government. A characteristic feature of such duties is that I use them instead of the rates established by ETT.
The current legislation also deals with duties related to the task of their use, and they can be dictated by one circumstance: the import of goods causes serious damage or poses a threat of causing this damage to a particular sector of the national economy, which was determined during a special investigation. Countervailing, special or anti-dumping duties have nothing to do with customs payments, and they are set in accordance with the decisions of the EEC Board.
If a person trying to transport certain goods across the border does not pay compensation, protective and anti-dumping duties, then administrative responsibility is liable for this. It is worth noting that the current arbitration practice has many precedents when representatives of private business were able to win a dispute related to the validity of installing certain anti-dumping measures in relation to their goods.
Understanding the current legislation and its features, you will not violate any norms due to ignorance of certain aspects, and if necessary, you can easily defend your rights on the spot or in court.