They are planning to bring them out of the threshold of duty-free trade, as reported by “Vedomosti”. If this happens, import duties will have to be paid regardless of the order amount. How does the duty-free import limit for personal use work and what will happen if it is canceled?
Any online purchases of goods coming to Russia from abroad go through customs. Many do not think about this because in practice the process often looks like this: paid for the desired item, waited two to three weeks, went to the post office and picked up the package. That’s it.
But if the duty-free import threshold is exceeded, you will have to pay a customs duty of 15% on the difference between the exempt limit and the actual value of the purchases. Currently, the limit is 1000 euros per month, it was established in 2022 as a temporary measure to support Russians in the face of sanctions. Then the validity of this measure was extended until April 1 of this year. There is no new decision on temporarily increasing the duty-free import threshold yet, and many media outlets have already reported that it will be reduced to 200 euros per month starting next month, as it was before.
In any case, it should be understood that all foreign online purchases fall under customs regulation regardless of the platform they are made on. For example, on the same Ozon, there are many Chinese sellers who ship their goods from China. And if you buy more than the duty-free import threshold, you will have to pay extra. Russian marketplaces honestly warn about this. Managing partner of the legal company “Varshavsky and Partners” Vladislav Varshavsky continues:
According to information from “Vedomosti”, foreign online orders will be subject to duty regardless of the price. This will happen after amendments to the customs legislation of the Eurasian Economic Union come into force. However, the amendments themselves have not been agreed upon yet, the discussion of this issue in the Eurasian Economic Commission will continue in April, said one of the sources of the publication.
If duty-free import is completely abolished, online purchases from abroad will noticeably increase in price, as indicated by the CEO of the consulting company GoOmni, Yefim Aldukhov:
There is another argument in favor of the fact that the duty-free import threshold for personal use goods is unlikely to be abolished. If all foreign online orders have to pay duty without exception, this will significantly increase the load on Russian customs. And the costs of administering such fees may exceed the revenues to the Russian budget.