Shipments from non-EU countries that have been exempt from VAT up to € 22 (including postage) will no longer have this privilege. Formally, an electronic customs declaration will always be lodged and it is only up to the addressee whether he will resolve it himself through silent (electronic identification is required, eg e-citizen), or lets the Czech Post solve it for him (then pays an extra 97-150 CZK – in addition to the assessed VAT itself).
The described process concerns shipments that were sent to the Czech Republic from a country outside the EU and whose sender is not registered in the EU as a VAT payer. Some entities (eg AliExpress) prevent this by collecting VAT on their part, but the question is how it will work in practice. Theoretically, this could be the best where transport is provided by AliExpress itself, which itself assists in the process of successful customs clearance (VAT payment) upon accession to the EU. With the transport methods provided by other postal services, the question is whether the Czech Post will not collect the VAT paid a second time, especially if the addressee will not have IOSS – a number matching a specific shipment with the selected VAT. In most cases, there will be a greater inconvenience than the VAT itself, which the post office charges for customs clearance (apparently regardless of whether or not it collects any VAT as a result).
The whole process was supposed to start working as early as the beginning of July, but due to Covid and the subsequent accumulation of issues with a higher priority, it was approved by the upper house much later. The next point was the signature of the president, after which – formally with publication in the Collection of Laws – the change will enter into force. The Czech Post expects that the process will be timed so that the collection of VAT will begin on October 1 this year (Friday).
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