Customs value: how to calculate so as not to miscalculate
The Federal Customs Service is actively fighting the underestimation of the customs value, but does not react to its overestimation, because the higher the cost, the more customs duties the importer pays. Is it possible to optimize the cost of customs clearance within the framework of legislation, while maintaining competitiveness in the fashion business? Let's figure it out.
According to experts, the volume of the shadow market of light industry goods is about 1 trillion rubles, which corresponds to 30% of the total volume of imported and manufactured goods in the industry in Russia. The share of foreign trade participants using gray import schemes is estimated from 20% to 60%, the volume of products sold in violation of intellectual property protection legislation is 10%20%.
Against the background of such statistics, the importer needs to understand that the main task of the customs authorities of Russia is to increase the volume of customs duties and payments received by the federal budget. The regulation of this indicator in the direction of increase is directly dependent on the effectiveness of customs control in relation to customs value.
Unfortunately, the existing customs value control system is mainly based on comparing the data declared in the customs declaration by the foreign trade participant with the figures in the risk profile indicators. Such a system is characterized by the appointment of a large number of additional customs value checks, which significantly reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of foreign trade. The eternal dispute between the importer and the customs over the customs value will continue in the near future. Of course, the customs authorities are taking steps to improve the situation, legislation is being improved, interaction with business representatives and government agencies is expanding, and the latest information technologies are being used. However, so far the situation is far from ideal.
Customs value is a very complex economic concept that depends on many contractual factors and additional charges. The inclusion of royalties in the customs value of imported goods is a particularly acute point. This issue is regulated in Russia by civil law and provides that under a license agreement, one party, the owner of the exclusive right to a trademark (licensor), grants or undertakes to grant the other party (licensee) the right to use the trademark within the limits specified in the agreement, with or without specifying the territory in which use is allowed, in relation to a certain area entrepreneurial activity. License fees are charged to the licensor for the use of the trademark, which are reflected in this document. Since the law defines that the license agreement is a separate independent contract, the foreign trade contract may not contain requirements regarding royalties. Thus, when declaring goods, importers do not provide information about license fees and do not include them in the customs value. And this leads to the fact that the customs authorities adjust the customs value, including royalties based on the results of additional inspections. At the same time, the decision to make adjustments to the customs value for the reason in question often takes place as part of the consideration of cases of administrative offenses.
There are also frequent cases when the amount of royalties directly depends on the volume of sales of goods on the domestic market and is not known to the importer when imported, – then the legislator suggests using the deferred procedure for determining the customs value and adjusting the data as they become more precise.
Each foreign trade participant is quite naturally interested in reducing the customs value of the goods, as this in turn minimizes the costs of the entrepreneur and ultimately has a positive effect on profits. However, it should be remembered that if the royalties are not included in the actual or payable price and are paid separately from the invoice for the estimated (imported) goods, the following key factors are taken into account when deciding whether to include royalties in the customs value of these goods:
- whether the royalties relate to the assessed (imported) goods;
- whether the payment of royalties is a condition for the sale of assessed (imported) goods.
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