Russia wants to test automated duty pay for e-commerce in Nov

MOSCOW, Nov 1 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Finance Ministry plans to start testing a pay-as-you-buy duty on foreign Internet purchases in November, a ministry spokesperson said late Wednesday.

“The experiment will be launched in November,” the spokesperson said.

The ministry has prepared a draft order to test a system, under which the duty is charged automatically. The Federal Customs Service is responsible for the experiment.

Deputy Minister Ilya Trunin said earlier that an option to pay the duty would appear on a website during the process of an order. An authorized economic operator would deal with a customs dispatch and remit payments for the order to the budget.

The country currently charges the duty on foreign online purchases costing over 1,000 euros and weighing over 31 kilograms.

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