When do I have to pay VAT at the post office when I receive the ordered goods?

Māris Jauns.lv told: “Upon receiving the parcel from Latvijas Pasts – a book from a Spanish publishing house and also printed in Spain, I was forced to pay 10.50 euros for customs clearance (plus 36 cents for the bank commission transfer to the Treasury). I want to get my money back, because such a requirement is contrary to the principles of free trade in the European Union. Also, by calling the advisory phone of the State Revenue Service (SRS), I was assured that it is not planned to collect customs duties on goods traded and produced in the EU ”.

Customs or VAT must be paid for all postal items from outside the EU, the value of which exceeds 22 euros. This means that when ordering a product from an EU member state, the customer should make sure how it will be delivered to Latvia. In this case, it is a stick with two ends, because if you order a product from a Chinese company, but it is shipped, for example, from Romania, customs clearance is not necessary. VAT is levied not on the place where the goods in the consignment were manufactured, but on the country of dispatch of the consignment.

Gundega Vārpa Jauns.lv, Head of the External Communications Management Department of Latvijas Pasts, explained: “Customs duties are not applied only to consignments that are forwarded within the European Union. Even if the product is manufactured in an EU Member State but is sent by post from a country outside the EU, it is subject to the relevant taxes. In the specific case (consignment number RX620006074CH) the consignment to Latvia has been sent from a country outside the EU – Switzerland, as evidenced by the internationally used abbreviation of the country name CH ”.

In her turn, Kristīne Augstkalne-Jaunbērziņa Jauns.lv, a public relations specialist of the SRS, added: from a third country and was therefore rightly requested to be cleared through customs. If a person has documents proving that the consignment was nevertheless sent from a Member State of the European Union – Spain, he or she has the right to request correction or cancellation of the customs declaration and refund of unduly paid customs duties within three years from the date of acceptance of the declaration.

An application for correction / cancellation of a customs declaration may be submitted electronically to the SRS Electronic Declaration System by connecting to the Electronic Customs Data Processing System. Explanatory information on submitting the application is available on the SRS website: www.vid.gov.lv/lv/ka-pieteikt-muitas-deklaracijas-labosanuanulesanu-ja-deklaracijas-statuss-ir-preces-izlaistas.

She emphasized that the free movement of goods applied only to EU Member States. Shipments from Switzerland are subject to the same rules as shipments from other countries outside the EU, including non-EU countries in the European Economic Area. Customs duties are not payable on goods with a value of less than 22 euros.