Ensuring the payment of customs duties: methods and calculation of the amount

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Customs payments - this is a fairly large category of revenues to the state budget. In the Russian Federation, a member of the Customs Union, they are regulated by a legislative act common to all member countries of the Customs Union - the Customs Code (abbreviated as TC). Separately, it addresses such an issue as ensuring the payment of customs duties. In the article we will analyze what they mean, what is the procedure, the specific terms for paying these contributions, how they are calculated. Let's take a closer look at the existing payment security options.

Customs duties

The main customs payments in the Russian Federation are the corresponding fees, duties and taxes.

Customs duties are a mandatory fee charged by the customs authorities for the movement of various goods across the border. Payment of such a fee is a mandatory condition for the import/export of products. It is provided by measuresstate enforcement.

Customs duties are divided into several categories:

• By purpose of collection: fiscal and protectionist.
• According to the object of taxation: import (these are customs duties on the import of goods into the territory of the Russian Federation), transit, export.
• By the method of calculating rates: ad valorem, mixed, specific.
• Originally: autonomous and contractual.
• By country of origin: general, preferential, minimum.

There is also a separate group of special customs duties:

• Protective.
• Anti-dumping.
• Punitive.
• Seasonal.
• Compensation.

Customs fees

The following definition (TC CU, art. 72). Customs fees are mandatory cash payments that are collected by the customs authority for actions related to the release of products, accompanying these goods and other actions provided for by the Customs Code or the laws of the CU member countries.

The Code also says this:

• Both the types and rates of such fees are established by the laws of the members of the Customs Union.
• The amount of such fees cannot exceed the approximate cost of the customs structures for the actions for which such a payment is expected.

What is paid?

Customs payments are collected from both exporters and importers. Consider what each of them pays specifically.

Importers for importedproducts:

• Import duties.
• Customs fees.
• VAT (in case it is not zero).
• Excise tax (regarding excisable products).

Exporters for exported products:

• Finishing fee.
• Export duty (only for categories of goods subject to these charges).

To calculate and process all of the above, you can contact the services of customs brokers. But all the necessary procedures can actually be done independently.

Timing and order

And now we will analyze in detail the procedure and terms for paying customs duties (Article 329 of the Labor Code). With regard to import (import), the following is established:

• When goods are imported into the customs zone of the Russian Federation, duties and other applicable fees for them must be paid on the day the declaration is submitted. In the event that this document was not submitted on time, the period for making such payments is calculated from the date of expiration of the deadline for its submission.
• In the case of preliminary declaration of imported products, customs duties and taxes must be paid no later than the date of release of such goods.
• If a periodic declaration is submitted, then the due payments on it are paid within 15 days from the moment the products arrive on the territory of the Russian Federation or from the date the internal transit is completed. This applies to cases where the declaration of products does not take place at the point of arrival.
• When any goods are released before the declaration is submitted, customs payments are paid no later than 15days from the date of presentation (of these goods) at the customs authority at the place of their arrival in the zone of the Russian Federation. In the case when the declaration takes place not at the point of arrival on the territory of the Russian Federation - no later than 15 days from the date of completion of the customs domestic transit.

Now the provisions of the legislation regarding exported (exported) goods from the customs territory of the Customs Union (RF, Kazakhstan, Belarus):

• When exporting products, duties must be paid no later than the date on which the declaration was submitted.
• In case of legislative changes in customs regimes, the relevant duties and taxes are paid no later than the day final for the adjusted regime.

Calculation algorithm

If you do not want to use the services of customs brokers, you can use the following calculation instructions:

1. Determine the country of manufacture, origin of goods.
2. Find product code in TN VED.
3. Determine the rate of due duty: ad valorem (a certain percentage of the customs price of goods), specific (a specific monetary value in relation to a unit of goods), combined.
4. Determine if the item is excisable. The list is presented in Art. 193 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The main categories in it are alcohol, tobacco, cars. Please note that excises are only paid on imports.
5. VAT. When exporting products abroad, VAT is not charged. This tax is only payable on imports. There are three categories: VAT in full, preferentialrate (the list is in paragraph 2 of article 164 of the Tax Code) zero rate (only for high-tech equipment, the list of which is approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation).
6. Payment fee. The minimum amount is 500 rubles, the maximum is 10,000 rubles. This is a fixed payment depending on the customs value of the products.
7. Escort fee. For such cases, customs transit is also provided. This refers to the movement of goods across the country under the control of the customs carrier. The cost of such services: 2000-6000 rubles.
8. Fee for customs storage of cargo. If this is an ordinary warehouse, then the amount of the fee is 1 ruble / 100 kg of cargo. If specialized, then the cost is doubled.

After you determine all these values, all that remains is to substitute them in the corresponding columns of the calculator.

Calculate with a calculator

As for the calculation of customs payments, the easiest way to do it is by referring to online customs calculators. Such useful options are offered by a considerable number of Internet portals. For the most part, they are free.

For an approximate calculation of due payments, you can use a simplified version of the calculator. Here you need to enter the following:

• Product cost.
• Currency.
• Duty rate (according to the HS code of the goods).
• VAT rate.

For a more accurate calculation of customs duties, you can use the services of a professional,advanced customs calculator with the following items:

• Indicating the currency.
• Product code, product according to TN VED.
• counterparty country.
• Country of origin.
• Lot cost.
• Quantity of item.
• Unit cost.

What is collateral?

Securing the payment of customs duties (according to the Customs Code of the Customs Union) - the release of products from customs without the fact of payment of these fees, but with the provision of certain guarantees by the declarant.

All cases of using such security can be divided into groups: unconditional and exceptional.

Unconditional Collateral

As for the unconditional security of payment of customs duties, it is used in two modes of foreign economic activity - customs transit and processing outside the customs zone. But why is it needed here? Ideally, there should be no such charges for transit and processing abroad. However, in this way, states want to protect themselves from some unscrupulous participants in foreign economic activity.

The fact is that for some of them, transit and processing is just a "cover". It hides duty-free exports and imports. So the goods "get stuck" in the Russian Federation during transit. And those sent for processing abroad often remain abroad permanently.

Exceptional Collateral

Exceptional security of payment of customs duties - these are just individual incidents. They may be associated withinterstate temporary agreements, force majeure situations, transitional regimes, etc. These are also cases when the subjects of non-economic activity and the customs system cannot agree unequivocally within the strictly allotted time on what amount of the customs payment is due. In some cases, they help protect against customs evasion.

All exceptional cases here can be divided into the following categories:

• Change of payment periods for customs payments.
• Product release with subsequent examinations.
• Release of goods classified as "conditionally released".
• Other cases.

A separate item here is customs security for those business entities that are engaged in customs activities:

• Temporary warehouse owners.
• Economic operators.
• Customs warehouse owners.
• Customs representatives.
• Customs carriers, etc.

What is the TRP?

TRP in this case - general customs support. Or general provision of customs payments. Applicable for those cases when the subjects of foreign economic activity intend to work for a long time in a mode that does not function without customs security. Or cover large areas with a certain type of activity, associated with the involvement of several customs structures.

The TRP acts as a kind of subscription, which is confirmed by one customsbody and is further recognized by all the others that are involved in the supply chain. It is relevant for a limited period of time in a certain territory.

The TRP states the following:

• Information about the principal customs authority (which issued the document and confirmed the security).
• Information about the subject of foreign economic activity.
• Security amount.
• TRP Validity.
• List of customs operations covered by this security.

Security amount

According to the Customs Code of the Customs Union, security is introduced for insurance against customs duties evasion. Its size in relation to unconditional cases is taken into account according to the codes from the TN VED (excluding benefits and preferences).

Let's imagine the most common cases:

• When customs transit. Full provision of customs duty and VAT required when importing such goods into the customs zone.
• When exported for processing. Full coverage of export duty (if applicable for this product).
• With respect to products subject to excise duty in the territory of the Russian Federation. Certain fixed amounts established by law.

Different ways

On the territory of the Customs Union, there are ways to ensure the payment of customs duties:

• Bank guarantees.
• Pledge of property.
• Guarantee.

We will analyze their features in more detail.

Bail

Ensuring customs payments is already inherentlypledge. The object of foreign economic activity here is the mortgagor, and the customs structure is the pledgee. Also, a third party may be involved in these business relations - guarantors.

The pledge of property in this case is drawn up in the form of an agreement between the declarant and the customs authority. The following cannot be used as collateral:

• Property that was pledged earlier.
• Property that is outside the borders of Russia.
• Perishable products.
• Products and specific objects of the energy industry.

Bank guarantees

As the name implies, guarantees in this case are provided by banking organizations, as well as other insurance and credit companies, which must be included in the Register of Customs Guarantors.

Within 3 working days, the customs system is required to check this guarantee, and then confirm or reject it.

The reason for refusal is usually the following: incorrect documentation, exceeding the limit of the amount of the guarantor.

Guarantee

The meaning of a guarantee in this case is related to the meaning of a bank guarantee. There are only two differences:

• The guarantor is not included in the Register of Customs Guarantors.
• The term for consideration of an application for securing payment by the customs authorities is 15 days, not 3.

In order for the customs to approve the guarantor, he must send an offer of his candidacy. It is accompanied by a tripartite guarantee agreement. Or a bilateral agreement with the consent of the declarantaccept this guarantee.

An important point: the desire of the guarantor to become a guarantor in this case must be supported by a bank guarantee.

Deposit

After the amount of the deposit is sent, you must receive a customs receipt. It will be required to obtain a guarantee from any specific customs authority.

When either partial or full obligations under the guarantee arise, the following cash flows will become possible:

• The amount of taxes and duties will be deducted from the deposited amount and credited to pay customs duties. The remaining funds at the end of the obligation period are returned to the payer. May also be credited towards future transactions.
• The amount of duties and taxes will be paid separately by the payer. Therefore, in this case, the deposit is returned to him in full. Otherwise, it will be fully credited towards future operations.

Cash bond, as you can see from here, is the easiest way to get customs security. But it is beneficial only if the amounts are small. If the subject of foreign economic activity is sure that the amounts of taxes and duties will not be deducted from the pledge, it is more convenient for him to use the non-monetary form of security. This is beneficial for him primarily because relatively large amounts will not be frozen in the accounts of the customs authorities.

So that the customs system does not have grounds for increasing the amount of security, the subject of foreign economic activity needs to prepare in advance all the necessary information on its product, and also agree on the TN VED codes inregional customs office.

Thus, ensuring customs payments is a way of insurance against unscrupulous subjects of foreign economic activity, which hide duty-free export and import under transit and sending goods for processing abroad. There are three ways to secure today - a pledge, a guarantee from a bank and a surety. The amount here is calculated according to the commodity code of the TN VED.