When the new regulation comes into effect

The Protocol on Amendments to the Customs Code of the Eurasian Economic Union on cross-border e-commerce shall enter into force on the date the Eurasian Economic Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) receives the final written notification of member states on completion of the domestic procedures required for its entry into force. The Republic of Kazakhstan has completed the ratification procedures in early October of this year.

However, for the new customs regulation to come into force, the Commission should adopt certain normative documents regarding e-commerce goods, and EAEU member-states should align their national customs legislations with the Protocol's provisions. This procedure is also required to be done in the Republic of Kazakhstan. This work has not yet been completed by the Commission and individual member states, and the Commission has not yet provided any information on the exact date for the introduction of customs regulation regarding e-commerce.

Goods subject to the new regulation and who will declare such goods

It's important to understand that the new customs regulation only applies to the goods purchased by individuals on foreign online platforms outside the EAEU. For example, these include orders from China, the USA or European Union countries, etc.

However, if purchases are made on online platforms of EAEU countries, such as Wildberries, Ozon and others, - the new rules are not applied.

Goods currently purchased by individuals on foreign online platforms will be reclassified from personal goods shipped internationally by mail and delivered by (express) carriers to «e-commerce goods». The transition to the new regulation is expected to be minimal and without significant inconvenience for parcel recipients.

Although new concepts are being introduced – «e-commerce goods», a new type of customs declaration, a new customs duty and even a new market participant – «E-commerce operator», for ordinary people the process of receiving parcels will not change much.

All customs formalities will be handled on behalf of recipients by e-commerce operators – these are familiar companies such as «Kazpost» JSC, DHL, FedEx, and others. They submit the necessary declarations and process parcels on behalf of individuals.

For over a year, a pilot project (experiment) to test new customs e-commerce regulation has been conducted in Kazakhstan. Its goal is to identify potential problematic issues and identify their solutions. «Kazpost» JSC and «DHL Kazakhstan» LLP who participate in the experiment, have gone through significant work in conjunction with the State Revenue Committee. And it should be noted that customs procedures performed during the experiment, including the filing of a new type of declaration, did not significantly impact the process of receiving parcels by individuals.

Fees that are payable when declaring e-commerce goods

The Commission has accepted a decision to maintain the same duty-free threshold of €200 for e-commerce goods as it exists for personal use goods. Therefore, if the value of the purchased goods does not exceed €200, then individuals will not be required to pay customs duties and taxes.

If the value of an item exceeds €200, then individuals will pay a «customs duty on e-commerce goods». This duty is planned to be 5% of the item's value. VAT of 12% is also payable.

Currently, if the value of goods for personal use exceeds the 200-euro threshold, a flat duty of 15% is payable on the excess value (includes the duty itself and VAT), but no less than 2 euros per kilogram of excess weight. This means that both the duty-free value threshold and (or) the 31-kg weight threshold are currently applied to such goods.

As it can be seen, no major changes are planned for the payment of duties, other than the amount of the duty (5% or 15%) and the portion of the goods’ value that it is levied on (the full amount or the excess amount). There will also be no duty-free weight threshold, as only a very small portion of goods purchased by individuals weighs over 31 kg.

It should be noted that according to «Kazpost» JSC, more than 90% of goods purchased by individuals on foreign online platforms do not exceed the threshold of 200 euros. This means that the above changes will not affect the majority of buyers - individuals from Kazakhstan, as payment for goods priced under 200 euros is not provided.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/kgd/press/news/details/1093842?lang=kk