PRESS: Russia may charge duty from any online purchase from 2020

MOSCOW, Jun 18 (PRIME) -- Russia could introduce a duty on every purchase in foreign Internet stores from 2020, business daily Vedomosti reported on Monday.

Two unnamed federal officials told the daily that the Federal Customs Services offered the Finance Ministry to charge a duty from purchases of any value from foreign online stores. “There was made a comprehensive proposal on improvement of cross-border Internet trade,” a customs service spokesperson said.

The move will contribute 25 billion rubles per year to the budget, while the national e-commerce would become more competitive.

At present, Russians can purchase for up to 1,000 euros per month and up to 31 kilograms at foreign online stores without paying any duties, and extra carries a 30% duty.

Russia’s partners in the Eurasian Economic Union – Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – agreed to gradually decrease the duty-free threshold: to 500 euros from 2019 and to 200 euros from 2020.

Deputy Director of the Federal Customs Service said that the 200 euro threshold is only a part of the solution, because 95% of online parcels are within 30 euros. The main task is to create equal conditions for the Russian and cross-border e-commerce, otherwise Russian companies would find it more profitable to work under the model of foreign online floors, he said.

(62.6851 rubles – U.S. $1)

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